So, I Put Up This...

[JP]

Hummingbird Feeder. Within a day and a half, I ended up with a male and a female. I got the cheesy plastic one from Wal-Farts and the Hummers went to it with no problem and have been for a month or so now. I put up a glass one, little more fancy and hung it when the plastic one was just about out. Well, they don't even acknowledge the glass one, even when the plastic one was empty.

They don't hit the feeder at the same time, or one dive bombs the other. The male is usually the aggressor. They seem to be getting used to my presence in the open window taking shots of them. When I'm in the window, they face me most of the time and feed, then look at me and feed again. They repeat that the entire time they are at the feeder. They sit on the perch when they are totally feeling safe with their surroundings, if not, they hover. If they see me in the window, they will slowly come up to the feeder, again, always looking at me. Pretty funny.

These suckers are quick. That makes it a little difficult, not impossible. These are the first attempts, I'm sure they'll get more used to me as the Summer moves on

[sparker1]

Good start, JP, you need a good, long lens. Setup a tripod aimed at the feeder's edge, use a remote release to fire whenever they come to the feeder. Piece of cake.

[JP]

I was using that Nikon D-40. The Hummer's are getting a little bit more used to me. Now they hover from a distance and don't take off. The female would drink, pop out and look, go back and drink, pop out and look... Pretty funny. Pretty soon I would think they might just perch on the feeder and drink with me right there. A couple times after she was finished drinking and I didn't have the window open taking the pics, she would fly right up to the window I usually have open and look in, pretty funny. Thanks for the tips!

[Win]

I've got two feeders outside my office window and these little guys are a trip. Very aggressive, wait until you have them chasing each other.

By the way, you don't need colored liquid, my wife just mixes up sugar water and it works fine.

Enjoy,
Win

[DiscGo]

Wow. Good work. I thought you were going to talk about your photoshopping skills. That first picture just looks so crisp.

[R]

I stayed at Tanya's Thunderbird Lodge last week, and her people had four or five hummingbird feeders out and full, so I took the liberty of getting out the 180mm and squeezing off a few frames after breakfast one day...



-Richard

[DiscGo]

Wow cool picture Richard. I am reallly impressed that both of you got such nice picture of a bird that can't stay still.

[JP]

Wow, you guys have different color Hummers I'm lacking a zoom lens, so I just use Photochop to make them a bit bigger.

Yes, The male seems to chase the female off the feeder at times or just as she is arriving. She hits the feeder far more times than he does.

As far as sugar water, I stick with the "colored" mix because of the vitamins and minerals in it for those little suckers And the sugar water seems to get algae, mold, fungus of some sort growth with it.

[sparker1]

With a remote (wire or wireless, you can put the camera close while you stay back, sip your beer and fire when ready.

[JP]

With a remote (wire or wireless, you can put the camera close while you stay back, sip your beer and fire when ready.

Great idea They say they are supposed to be receptive of people, you can see it happening

[waltny]

need to get a wired one probally. The wireless one for the Nikon's are IR and the sensor is on the front of the camera, can be inconsition at times . Also FPS are only 2.5 on the D40(NEF) not sure what the JPEG is and how well the buffer works. At the high shutter speeds you should just be able to click away if the buffer can handle it in JPEG.

[JP]

Thanks Walt

[Win]

Yo told me she's mixed up 15 lbs of sugar so far this season.

Win

Here are a couple taking a break:

[Cirrus2000]

Yo told me she's mixed up 15 lbs of sugar so far this season.

Win

Here are a couple taking a break:

A gorgeous shot, Win - very nice!