A Hummingbird Portrait

[Loupey]

I generally don't like getting close ups this close but I wanted to see how close I could get to these birds.

From earlier this past week. This one seemed to be the dominant one as she successfully drove off other ones away. It took me about 40 minutes of standing absolutely still before she would return to perch nearby.

The first shot is from about 12' away with the 300mm. #2 and #3 are from about 10' with the 300mm+2x TC. The second is with fill flash.

BTW, this bird is the one that I observed catching and eating small flying insects.

[Knight]

Superb Captures as usual Loopey

[paulnj]

Wow, these are very nice! Too bad the tongue image wasn't with a 2X too

[OBie]

Wow, Loupey - love seeing that patch on her chest!

[terryger]

sweet!!!! a female or immature male allen's. more than likely a female but hard to tell with the lighting and their similarities. did the red spot ever look bigger?

aren't they cool? :thumbsup:

can you give me some particulars on time of day, lighting, and shooting specs?

thanx!:thumbsup:

[terryger]

after closer inspection, the questionable lighting, and not knowing your exact location it could be a ruby throat.

the reason i was wondering is the allen's demonstrates a lot more agressive behavior than the ruby throat and if you look at this pic of an immature allens taken just the other day you will see what i mean. we don't have ruby throats

hard to make a call without knowing all the facts.



you can see the rufus sidemarking better on this one but fmales and some immature males don't show much in the right light either or depending on the time of year.

to cause even more problem there are those that don't follow what the books say and hybirds.


and yes, they are very efficient bug eaters. although they don't do it where i can see it at my house they do clean a wall just down the street from where i work quite well. gonna try to get some pics of that when i get the opportunity.

[Loupey]

Thanks, Knight, Paul, Obie, and Terryger

Terryger, as I live in Ohio, I believe that it is a ruby-throated (only hummingbird species in Ohio I think). What threw me was that patch. Everything I read had no mention of a small patch on females. When I first saw it through the viewfinder, I thought it was a tick (like those seen on Bevb's tick shots). Then I noticed the colors. Although it didn't "grow", this bird could definitely choose when to flash it. I later thought it might have been in immature male but I don't think so.

I counted at least 4 females and 1 male in this area. All pixs here (including these three "super crops") are of the same bird.

As for the specs of the last image of the first post:

Shooting time: 8/24, 5:57pm, shade but open to partly cloudy skies
Shooting specs: 1/125s, f/9.5, 600mm, ISO 400, MF, on monopod

[natatbeach]

is that a ladybug attached to her litle chest???...

[terryger]

thanx loupy.

and you are right. i guess it was the "midwest" that threw me off. being in the "real west' we call ohio "the east" but we called it that when i lived in "western" new york too!

those are great shots.

as for the spot, that is one of the reasons i said many of the hummers you will see "haven't read the book!"

[Old Timer]

Outstanding images Loupey. It's as if you have trained her to pose for you.

[Bevb]

Fantastic shots Loupey! and what a beautiful little bird.:thumbsup:

[payn817]

Very nice images Loupey. I think you were lying about never shooting birds before.

Fantastic, makes me wish we had something besides vultures where I live...lol

[quetzal]

Awesome pics Loupey, great job!

[euphoria]

i guess it was the "midwest" that threw me off. being in the "real west' we call ohio "the east":

Lol, I live in Ohio too and I thought for the longest time I was in the east when all of a sudden somebody told me "No no, we're just on the border of the west"
I dont know how that works out but... :aureola:

[Loupey]

Sorry for being out lately, but thanks, everyone, for commenting!

Natatbeach - it's apparently a color display throat patch on a female. It is the first time I noticed/caught a female with such a patch.

Terryger, OT, Bev, and Quetzal - thanks for the nice words. When I got home that night, I was originally a little disappointed that I didn't have a closer close-up image. That was until I went back a few days later to really "see" how small these birds are. At only about 3" long, they are only about the length of a butterfly. So I guess that I need to keep that in mind

Payn, LOL! Birds are still tough for me as I can't seem to get close enough (except these). Because the background is harder to control in bird shots compared to macro shots, the birds tend to get lost against the background. Vultures indeed! I've seen them enlarged in my viewfinder but I haven't made a capture worth posting But then again, my new project is to get a shot of maggots that aren't disgusting.

Euphoria - yeah, I don't get it either. Imagine me trying to explain that one to my friends and family when they visit from Japan :mad2:

[Coastal Flyer]

Loupey,

I really enjoy hummingbirds and these are terrific. Very nice shots. Congrats.

CF