Saturday, September 10, 2011

Feeding time

It is the time of year when hummingbirds are moving fast and furiously; the food supply disappears in a day or two instead of a week. 5 to 10 birds are around at any time, including the rufous who attempts to dominate the feeder. There is another feeder on the other side of the yard, where the intimidated birds can get food away from the intimidator!
For the experience of a lifetime, we walk up to within a foot of the feeder and just stand there quietly. The birds show very little trepidation, often checking us out VERY closely (long sharp beaks). They do their thing right in front of us and treat us to a show and experience of all senses, being that close to them.
I've had more fun watching them this year than trying to capture them in pixels, but here's two that I got watching me. The camera is at chest level and I just fire away as they come in to feed - do battle.  This was shot at 3200 ISO, and 1/20 sec - it was getting dark.
A rufous hummer.

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