Annas Hummingbird on Guard #2

I reworked this one a little more by blurring the background. It's a lot better this way I think. This is the original photo of this Anna's Hummingbird. Make sure you click on the image to view it in its larger size. It's a lot better.


Canon EOS 20D
Canon 70-300mm lens at 300mm
1/30s secs at f/10
ISO400

Hummingbird Calypte Anna #2

The previous post I made of a photo of a Anna's hummingbird was taken side-on and the feathers of the neck and head are a brownish black. Here we see our little beauty, whose official name is "Calypte Anna", facing us which shows how the color of his neck and head features display as a bright rose. I presume this scares off other competitors for the nectar feeder as they come barrelling down on any intruders.

It is quite inexpensive to feed hummingbirds in your yard. Once you have bought the feeder from your local garden nursery or hardware store, you can make the nectar yourself at home with ordinary white sugar. Here's my recipe for hummingbird feeder nectar: make a 25% solution of white sugar and water. That's it! So for example, I make 8 cup batches at a time, so I first of all measure out 2 cups of sugar and then add 6 cups of warm water to make up a total of 8 cups. Stir it for long enough to dissolve the sugar. It doesn't need to be colored; I know in the stores it's sold with red food coloring in the solution, but the hummers will be attracted by the fake flowers and colors on the feeder itself. Do NOT use powdered (icing) sugar!

How do you attract hummingbirds to your garden feeder? Well, first of all you have to live in an area where hummingbirds live. In warmer parts of the US some varieties, such as the Anna pictured above, don't migrate at all and you will delight in seeing them in your garden year-round. In colder parts, you may only have them during a season. So, presuming you live in an area with hummingbirds, just buy a feeder, fill it with nectar solution, and hang it from a tree branch or other convenient spot. It may take a few weeks for the birds to find it, but once they have, you'll have them as long as you feed them. And once you start, you shouldn't stop as they will come to rely on you especially in the winter and spring.

Bird Photo Gallery - Broadband Flash Gallery

Bird Photo Gallery - Dial Up Optimized

Cannon EOS 20D
Canon 70-300mm lens at 300mm
1/30 secs at f 5/6
ISO 400

Anna's Hummingbird #1

Anna's hummingbirds live in my garden here in Southern California year round. I encourage them with hummingbird feeders in my garden and the action is non-stop year round. Visitors always delight in the show. This year has been the best ever. I guess my garden must be "on the map"; in the spring there were up to 5 birds feeding at the same time.

It seems to be that in the spring during breeding season they are less territorial and feed together, but as the year progresses into summer, a dominant bird will take ownership of a feeder and stand guard over it from sunup to sundown clicking away all day long. It's a battle royal, and at times the birds actually manage to get a hold of each other and I have actually seen them wrestling on the deck! I kid you not. Mostly it's a matter of dive-bombing interlopers, and some of them will not give up easily. One night evening last week I just couldn't believe the fights going on out there with kamikaze pilot hummers bombing each other with a great cacophony of angry sounds to go with it. There are times when a bird will fly up vertically to what seems like a hundred feet or more and then will dive at immense speed making an incredible high-pitched whizzing sound with his wings.

This is a photo of one of the bosses in the garden right now. That's him standing sentry over "his" feeder. From the side their necks and heads look dark brown to black, but when they face you the light catches their features and turns them an iridescent rose color. The next post will show that. And I'll also share with you my recipe for the nectar for a hummingbird feeder.

Bird Photo Gallery - Broadband Flash Gallery

Bird Photo Gallery - Dial Up Optimized

Cannon EOS 20D
Canon 70-300mm lens at 300mm
1/80 secs at f 5/6
ISO 400

Hummingbird and Bromeliad Flower

Finally! In my first post of one of these photos of a pink bromeliad flower I had mentioned how I had seen a hummingbird feeding on the flowers the Sunday before last in the morning. Of course I just had to capture a photo of that and set up my camera and tripod ready to catch the guy next time he came back. Of course he didn't and my Sunday passed by with me spending most of it waiting behind my camera and growing more and more frustrated. I had even taken the two hummingbird feeders from my yard inside the house to no avail. Another week and another weekend of frustration have past. Today I was working from home so set up outside on the patio and put the camera back up. I actually got a few shots this morning but at that time the plant was in deep shade and obviously to eliminate as much blur as possible the exposure had to be very fast. To be able to take a shot in low light and with a very short exposure you have to really crank up the ISO setting. I had it at 800, so the photos are very grainy. But actually I am thinking they look sort of artistic so I am going to print them nonetheless just to see.

Anyhow, late this afternoon when I was almost ready to pack everything up and come inside, I happened to be delayed by a phone call from a friend, and while on the call along came my wily friend and with full sun shining on him and the flower. I quickly excused myself to my friend, looked through the lens, found it just happened to be trained on the exact flower the bird was supping from, and shot! Finally a respectable photo of the elusive character. I hope you like it! I feel it's been worth the wait, and I have a new-found appreciation of the patience required of nature photographers.

If you would like prints of this or any of my photos, please contact me using the link at the very bottom of the page. I can accommodate a range of sizes and papers. This photo would look exceptional on Kodak's metallic paper.

I welcome any comments on this and all of my photos. Just click the "Comments" link at the end of the post.

Canon EOS 20D
1/250 sec at f/5.6

70-300mm lens at 300mm
ISO 200