|
||
|
HUMMINGBIRD ADDICTION Allen's, Anna's, Black-Chinned, Calliope, and Rufous are the most common hummingbirds in California. Amazingly, Rufous fly almost 6,400 km (4,000 miles) from Mexico to Alaska and back each year. Calliope are the smallest long distance migrants in the world and the smallest birds in California. Incredibly, the longest documented hummingbird migration was a female Rufous, which was tagged in Tallahassee, Florida in January 2010, and then discovered 5,600 km (3,500 miles) away in Chenega Bay, Alaska 5 months later in June 2010.  ANNA'S FEMALE, GREVILLEA MOONLIGHT FLOWER (SPIDER). Photographing flowers on April 10, 2022, I spotted this female Anna's, grabbing a pollen tentacle with one foot while drinking nectar. I aimed and took my first ever hummingbird shots. Thanks to beginner's luck, a few photos came out sharp. Needless to say I was instantly hooked. All of the photos here were taken with my Sony A6000 camera and 70-350mm (105-525mm FF equivalent) zoom.  ALLEN'S. This Grevillea Moonlight flower patch has attracted many Allen's and Anna's hummingbirds.  ALLEN'S. On a cold drizzling morning, I spent three hours, taking photos and videos of just this little bird. Everything was dripping wet.  ALLEN'S. Due to the cold, this cutie perched on the lower branches to avoid the wind, which allowed me to get really close.  ALLEN'S. Hummingbirds catch insects mid-flight. You can see there was a bug stuck to its bill.  ALLEN'S. Observing a hummingbird this close for the first time, I was surprised how rapidly they breathe.  ALLEN'S  ALLEN'S FEMALE, MELIANTHUS FLOWER  ALLEN'S FEMALE  ALLEN'S MALE. Male hummingbirds have beautiful gorget (iridescent feathers).  ALLEN'S, PRIDE OF MADEIRA FLOWER. This Pride of Madeira flower patch attracted a lot of hummingbirds and bees in June, 2022.  BLACK CHINNED MALE. In our area, Black Chinned Hummingbirds are hard to find!  ANNA'S IMMATURE MALE. His iridescent feathers, the dark pattern in the throat area, were just coming out.  ANNA'S FEMALE  ANNA'S IMMATURE MALE. Some of his iridescent feathers started to reflect light.  ALLEN'S MALE, ALOE ARISTATA FLOWER (LACE ALOE)  ALLEN'S IMMATURE MALE. Some of his iridescent feathers started to reflect light.  ANNA'S FEMALE, FOXGLOVE FLOWER  ANNA'S FEMALE  ANNA'S IMMATURE MALE. Seeing his red glowing head from the corner of my eye, I just pointed and shot, didn't think it had a snowball chance of being in focus. Surprise, surprise! His iridescent feathers were not fully grown in yet on the sides of his head.  ANNA'S MALE. A mature male Anna's head and throat are covered in pinkish-red iridescent feathers.  ANNA'S MALE  ANNA'S MALE  ALLEN'S MALE. This is the type of in-flight shots I'm learning to capture nowadays. 1/2000s shutter shows how fast his wings were beating!  ALLEN'S MALE  ALLEN'S IMMATURE MALE. He flew in so fast and applied air brake suddenly, trying to chase another hummingbird away.  ALLEN'S MALE  ANNA'S FEMALE. Several times, I heard the sound of wings flopping, turned my head and this cutie was hovering just feet away. She let me get so close, I had to step backward so that my lens could focus on her.  ALLEN'S, PERSIAN SILK TREE. This hummingbird was licking nectar at the top of a Persian Silk Tree.  ANNA'S IMMATURE MALE. His iridescent feathers were just coming out. I really like the colorful background of this Persian Silk Tree.  ALLEN'S IMMATURE MALE. After taking a burst of images, I cropped in just enough to align the backgrounds in Camera Raw to show how steady hummingbirds maintain their heads while hovering.  ALLEN'S IMMATURE MALE. The dark spots on his face were iridescent feathers coming out, and it glowed red from a certain angle.  ALLEN'S IMMATURE MALE  ANNA'S IMMATURE MALE  ALLEN'S MALE  ALLEN'S FEMALE, SALVIA COERULEA FLOWER. The hummingbird's bill is visible through the translucent flower.  ALLEN'S FEMALE. This closeup of the previous photo shows the details captured by the A6000/70-350mm.  BLACK CHINNED MALE, SALVIA MICROPHYLLA FLOWER (HOT LIPS)  BLACK CHINNED FEMALE, KNIPHOFIA LINEARIFOLIA FLOWER (RED HOT POKER)  BLACK CHINNED FEMALE. I love the lighting and the sense of depth in this shot.  ANNA'S MALE. The front of his head was covered with pollens. The iridescent feathers on the throat were highly reflective already, but not the top of the head yet.  ANNA'S IMMATURE MALE, SALVIA LAMIACEAE FLOWER. This young male flew steadily so photographing him was relatively easy. His iridescent feathers were not fully grown in yet.  ANNA'S IMMATURE MALE  ANNA'S IMMATURE MALE. Details of the previous photo.  ANNA'S MALE. Allowing me to get within 2 meters (6.5 feet) from him, this beautiful male Anna's was the easiest to photograph at rest, always perching at his favorite branch. In flight, it was a totally different story.  ANNA'S MALE. From the side, his iridescent feathers on the head appear black. So beautiful, so cute, and so tiny!  ANNA'S MALE, SALVIA LAMIACEAE FLOWER. Flying extremely fast and unpredictably, this male Anna's was the most difficult hummingbird to photograph in flight and to catch his head fully glowing.  ANNA'S MALE. It took three trips to capture this male Anna's in flight with his entire head glowing! The effort was totally worth it!  ANNA'S FEMALE  ALLEN'S MALE, PRIDE OF MADEIRA FLOWER  ANNA'S MALE, SALVIA LEUCOPHYLLA FLOWER (PURPLE SAGE). Knowing these flowers attract hummingbirds, I waited and captured this little cutie! |
||
|
||
Copyright © 1999-2024 Albert Yu. All rights reserved. |
