New Year's Hummer

[icassell]

I'm no expert, but I think he's a Black-Chinned Hummingbird

 

[EricD]

very nice shot ...tough bird to get! TFS

 

[icassell]

Thanks, Eric!

 

[HikinMike]

I'm SOOOO bad with IDing Hummingbirds! All I can say is I think this is one of your best hummers ....at least that I've seen. I like a bit of 'flying room' on the left, but it's still a great capture.

Since I tried for songbirds today, I think I'm going to try for my hummingbirds tomorrow....

 

[icassell]

Thanks, Mike. I put up a couple of feeders a couple of weeks ago so I could get the guys a bit more reliably and it worked, but the feeders are U-G-L-Y. I cropped the feeder off the left here, but otherwise I too would have liked a bit of left-sided room. I think I'm going to plant a bunch of hummingbird-attracting flowers so I can get rid of the feeders. This one was done with a bit of fill-flash. Up to now, I've done most of them in natural light. I think I want to pull the 430 off the top of the camera, though, and angle it. I didn't have my Lumiquest softbox on the flash on this image, and I also think the light is a bit harsh. The problem is that the little guys move so darned fast, I might just make my kids hold the flash for me as I chase the birds around . I probably also should experiment with high-speed synch to slow the wings down just a bit.

The 3 common hummers here are the Black-Chinned, Costa's, and Anna's and they are difficult for me to tell apart. A common hummer in the rest of the country is not usually found here (the Ruby Throat).

Here's another of the same little guy ... note how this one gets the irridescent color on his throat. It's interesting how they make that color and how it changes:
http://www.shawcreekbirdsupply.com/hummingbird_color.htm

 

[HikinMike]

I use a feeder too and sometimes I've cloned the man-made "basket" to make it cleaner looking. I see Anna's and Black-chinned.

The more I think about your "Black-chinned", I think you've got Anna's instead. Here's one of my Black-chinned Hummingbird. Since I'm not an expert, I'll post my "new" finds at WhatBird.com.

 

[icassell]

You're probably right -- thanks Anyway, I like all the hummers

 

[Pugs]

I'm no expert, but I think he's a Black-Chinned Hummingbird

As opposed to the "Blue Dress Hummer"?! LOL

Very nice capture Ian!

 

[kundalini]

Hey.... I got a hummer on New Years Day too.

















Damn shame I didn't have my camera with me. :lmao:



Nice shots Ian. Happy New Year!

 

[icassell]

Here's another

 

[Pugs]

LOVE the composition on this one Ian!

 

[icassell]

LOVE the composition on this one Ian!

Thanks! If you don't think it was hard for me to convince him to stay in that position ...

 

[Pugs]

Thanks! If you don't think it was hard for me to convince him to stay in that position ...

Hm... and I thought that egotistical, early-twenties, pretty boys/girls were difficult models...

 

[icassell]

Thanks! If you don't think it was hard for me to convince him to stay in that position ...

Hm... and I thought that egotistical, early-twenties, pretty boys/girls were difficult models...

:lmao::lmao::lmao:

 

[Mauravdl]

I'm no expert, but I think he's a Black-Chinned Hummingbird

This is actually a male Anna's Hummingbird. Great shot, too. I'm not fast enough with the camera to catch these fast guys yet.

- Maura