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Old 09-01-2011, 08:08 PM
NTT
 
Location: Houston
723 posts, read 1,833,257 times
Reputation: 553

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So... I am feeling much better the past couple of days. Looking out the window, I notice this hummer was staying around the feeder for quite awhile. I decided to snap some photos. I quickly grabbed my camera with whatever lens was attached, a 50mm f/1.8, and headed outdoor.

I've read an article from a photographer that it is best to use flash when taking photos of hummers because they are so little and so quick. I didn't have enough time to pull out the external flash so I used the built-in pop-up flash and gave it a try. So here are the result photos. All I did to these photos is cropped them for a better close up look and resized for posting.

So you could see the difference, the first photo was taken without flash. The rest, the pop-up flash was used. Oh, and no tripod/monopod was used, didn't have enough time to set one up.

Click image for larger version

Name:	0410-Fall 2011 Hummer (800x534).jpg
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ID:	84357

This hummer actually allowed me to get very close, about 3 feet away from the feeder. Once in awhile, we were inturrepted by another hummer. This one hurridly chased the other one away. That was why this hummer was staying around the feeder. She was guarding her food!
Attached Thumbnails
Hummingbirds are Back-0424-fall-2011-hummer-800x534-.jpg   Hummingbirds are Back-0418-fall-2011-hummer-800x517-.jpg   Hummingbirds are Back-0420-fall-2011-hummer-800x534-.jpg  

Last edited by NTT; 09-01-2011 at 08:36 PM..
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Old 09-02-2011, 05:15 AM
 
Location: Pearland, TX
3,333 posts, read 9,173,790 times
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Excellent! An f1.8 is plenty fast without a flash. Nice little hen there!

I love hummers. We have 'em fightin' over our feeders now.

Ronnie
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Old 09-02-2011, 12:58 PM
NTT
 
Location: Houston
723 posts, read 1,833,257 times
Reputation: 553
Thanks Ronnie. It's been too hot so I placed the feeder in the shade by the carport. It was a bit dark at 7 pm. The flash helped to see the hummer a bit better. You're right, an f/1.8 should have been quick enough.

I tried to keep the hummers from fighting over 1 feeder; so, I put out 2. It didn't work, not so far anyway. For some reason they just don't like to feed on the other one. They know it's there, I've seen the hummer check it out but came right back to this one. It's strange.
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Old 09-07-2011, 01:15 PM
NTT
 
Location: Houston
723 posts, read 1,833,257 times
Reputation: 553
**** Update question ****

Has anyone seen hummers since the strong wind we had a few days ago?

I have not seen my hummers around the feeders since that very strong wind that cut the power off during this past weekend. The nectar level in the feeder is still the same. I'm wondering whether the wind had blown these little creatures away. I hope it didn't killed them .
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Old 09-07-2011, 01:48 PM
 
Location: Pearland, TX
3,333 posts, read 9,173,790 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NTT View Post
**** Update question ****

Has anyone seen hummers since the strong wind we had a few days ago?

I have not seen my hummers around the feeders since that very strong wind that cut the power off during this past weekend. The nectar level in the feeder is still the same. I'm wondering whether the wind had blown these little creatures away. I hope it didn't killed them .
I've had three to five fighting over mine since Sunday afternoon. They were scarce there for a bit.

Ronnie
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Old 09-07-2011, 07:08 PM
NTT
 
Location: Houston
723 posts, read 1,833,257 times
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Ronnie, thanks.

I refilled and relocated one of the feeder yesterday. Today, I had a surprise visit. As I checked out the hummer feeders through the window, I caught sight of a beautiful and colorful bird tried to get the nectar from the feeder.

The bird was bright orange with black head and black wings with white stripes. I hurridly grabbed my point-n-shoot and snapped a photo through the window. My quick reaction scared him and he quickly flew away as the photo was taken. You guessed it, the photo was blurred. However, the photo was good enough for me to ID the bird. I believe it's a Baltimore Oriole. This is only my 2nd time seeing this bird in my 30+ years living in Houston. Take a look at the blurry photo. I hope he'll come back. I'll be sitting outside and wait for it with my better gears. Hopefully, the next photo will be more clear.

Btw, I later saw my hummers. They came back . I'm glad to see they survived the heavy wind.
Attached Thumbnails
Hummingbirds are Back-hpim3755-baltimore-oriole-800x601-.jpg  
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Old 09-08-2011, 09:44 AM
 
Location: Pearland, TX
3,333 posts, read 9,173,790 times
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Way cool! Haven't seen an oriole like that since I left Michigan.

Ronnie
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Old 09-12-2011, 08:40 PM
 
10 posts, read 10,863 times
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Hi NTT...glad to hear that you're feeling better, those are some really cool pictures.

Hi Ronnie...so the Baltimore Orioles moved to Houston and the Baltimore Colts moved to Indiana...wonder what that says for Baltimore...lol...
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Old 09-13-2011, 06:16 AM
 
Location: Houston
811 posts, read 1,556,752 times
Reputation: 1150
NTT
I saw the same type of bird on my feeder a few days ago. It was in the shade and I thought it was a Robin at first until it flew off and I saw the orange back and black wings with white stripes. It hasn't returned unfortunately.
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Old 09-21-2011, 04:12 PM
NTT
 
Location: Houston
723 posts, read 1,833,257 times
Reputation: 553
Quote:
Originally Posted by Floydr47 View Post
Hi NTT...glad to hear that you're feeling better, those are some really cool pictures.

Hi Ronnie...so the Baltimore Orioles moved to Houston and the Baltimore Colts moved to Indiana...wonder what that says for Baltimore...lol...
LOL.... That's a good one!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cabot View Post
NTT
I saw the same type of bird on my feeder a few days ago. It was in the shade and I thought it was a Robin at first until it flew off and I saw the orange back and black wings with white stripes. It hasn't returned unfortunately.
Wasn't that a beautiful bird? Glad you saw one too. I haven't seen that one returned neither.

But now, I have 4 hummers fighting over 2 feeders. One is taken over by a female and the other by its mate (I think), a beautiful Ruby Throaded male. When these 2 are at the feeders, they do not chase each others off. It makes me think that they're a couple .
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