Hummingbird overload

It’s mid-afternoon on a rather warm Sunday in Maryland. Actually, the weather is pretty great for an August day so I’m not complaining. We have been blessed with unseasonably mild summer temperatures so far this summer and for that, I am very grateful.

On my time off from work, I have been able to sit outside on the back patio, under an umbrella, and set myself up for some hummingbird photography. I have two feeders, a little bird bath, and lots of perching opportunity: a hummingbird swing, and a bush full of tiny little limbs for them to stop and sit a spell. And by that, I mean stopping for just a few seconds until they’re off and flying again.

Suckers are fast, I tellya. Here are some of my favorite shots of the past week . . .

 

I shoot in all sorts of light. My favorite is the early morning, especially after a rain. That way, the sunlight glistens on the droplets, making for some excellent bokeh.

 

 

I freely admit that I do cheat during editing and add some bokeh of my own at times. Actually, it’s not cheating. It’s called editing. So there.

 

 

It’s pretty.

 

 

I figured that since I enjoy bird photography so much, it would be worth it to invest in a few props. So I bought two new hummingbird feeders this summer. Got them here, at Duncraft:

Duncraft Hummingbird Feeders

The ones I have are called ‘antique hummingbird feeders’ and I see they’re still on sale.

 

After posting some of these on my FB page, a reader identified one as a female rufous hummingbird. I believe the ones in this post are ruby-throated hummingbirds, both adult and immature males and females. Rufous hummingbirds have more of an orange cast, I believe.

 

Regardless, they aren’t the easiest to photograph. But I like the challenge.

The one above is my least favorite of the bunch. I shot it this morning using the auto dial (sport mode). Many of the others in this post were shot on manual, dialing up the shutter speed (and the ISO) to get the wing spreads.

 

My Nikon D7000 doesn’t autofocus that well on the manual mode. Or maybe I’m just not doing it right.

 

Of course, it’s much easier when they stay still!

For a half a second . . .

 

One of my favorites.

 

 

By early fall, they’ll be gone . . . off to Central America. And I read that many of them will cross the entire Gulf of Mexico in a single flight.

This is something I find astounding.

 

And this is the adult male ruby-throated hummingbird.

 

See how they like sitting on the teeniest of branches?

I’ll tell you what this bush is. Several years ago, I bought some pussy willow branches at the grocery store. It was early spring and I brought them home and put them in a vase. After they had served their purpose as a decorative piece, my husband took them outside and planted them in a big pot. He did the same thing the following year with another bunch I had brought home.

I now have a big pussy willow bush that grows in a very large pot on the back patio. It affords some great perching opportunities for the very smallest of the birds who come to visit the property.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hoping that your week to come is pleasant!

An update on the hawks

Do you remember last week when I wrote that I had heard a hawk that kept on screeching? I had thought that since it was acting kind of strange, and it had landed along the fence line, that maybe it was my husband who was trying to tell me to come take pictures of the bluebirds. It was kind of a kooky theory, but that’s me sometimes.

There are two hawks, possibly three, and from what I’ve read and learned, they are fledglings. I believe their parents may still be feeding them because from what I’ve observed, they really don’t know how to hunt yet.

They fly from tree to tree around the property and screech. All day long.

 

I believe they are Cooper’s Hawks. They are a little larger than the Sharp-Shinned Hawk and their tails are more round. I saw one of them in the dogwood tree while talking to my sister on the phone yesterday. I told her to hold on, I’d be right back. Then I grabbed the camera that happened to be sitting right there, and snapped the photo you see above.

You don’t hunt at the top of the dogwood tree with all the bird feeders down below and fully announce your position by screeching. So I know this bird is not hunting. He is calling out his location to his parents so that they can locate him for the next meal.

You birders out there ~ if I am mistaken, please let me know. I am trying to learn.

 

I found another doing this in one of the tall trees on the front yard.

I read online that the parents will teach their little ones to hunt, and will continue to bring them food until they learn to do it on their own. The female is bigger and, accordingly, is able to catch bigger prey for their youngsters. I thought the birds were calling to each other, saying “here I am” but I believe they are screeching so that their parents know where to find them with dinner. And lunch and breakfast and every snack in-between because this goes on all day long.

Could be worse, though. Could be dirt bikes. Or children screaming. Horns blaring. Guns going off. I’ll take this sound.

 

Another taken from the window – in the middle of a screech.

 

And in flight.

Last week, I saw four of them all flying together. Now I am assuming it was the parents and the two fledglings. They were high up. Maybe it was flight lessons . . .

 

I took this before I left for work early this morning.

He was back in the dogwood tree doing his thing.

 

And then this afternoon before dinner, I heard them screeching in tandem and it seemed like it was coming from the same tree. This was different because they’re usually almost on opposite ends of the property. I am not sure if they are fighting each other or just tussling here. According to the Cornell Ornithology website, this aggression may be a way for them to hone their fighting skills. But if food is scarce, it may arise from competition for it.

They are still out there. Screeching. I’ll keep you posted . . .

Quiet here on the hill

My 3-day weekend has been quite the quiet one so far, although Friday morning I was happily surprised with a visit from my sister, Char, who brought along her daughter and grand-daughter. Photos to come later ~

Speaking of quiet, I was weeding out on the patio yesterday and thinking that it was such a shame that the hummingbirds haven’t been coming around much this year. I figured it was due to the fact that my husband’s aloe plants didn’t bloom this year. I have tried to keep them alive and thriving like he did, but after transplanting some of them early this spring, they didn’t do so well and are only just coming back healthy and strong. As soon as I had the thought about the aloe plants, I heard the distinctive thrum of a tiny hummingbird.

So I stopped weeding immediately, went inside and washed my hands, and came back outside with the camera to wait.

 

And was rewarded with this.

As far as I’m concerned, it was pure luck. I shot it on the auto dial (sport mode) of my Nikon D7000. I then edited it in Photoshop CS5 using my favorite new actions {freebies!} from Little Lusker and finished it off with {this} texture from Shadowhouse Creations.

I uploaded it to FB and hours later, was shocked to find more comments than ever from people telling me how much they loved it. So I uploaded it to my etsy sale site. Not that I hope to make any money from it . . . I just hadn’t been to my etsy site in a while and was glad I went. Only two of my photos were currently for sale. Ha!

Female Rufous Hummingbird on Etsy

 

Here is another view, with her little red throat spot.

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This morning, I woke to a gray day and took my camera and my coffee outside on the patio and caught several other hummingbird photos after filling the little feeder.

I love this stuff.

I’m so terribly exciting, aren’t I?

 

I bought {this sweet feeder} from Duncraft last year on an end-of-season sale. They have it available in red, clear, and blue as well.

It’s sometimes nice to have a pretty prop when you’re taking bird photos.

These are kind of cool, too:

Mini Blossom Stake Feeder

 

And then, the male Rufous Hummingbird showed up.

 

Hummingbirds move really fast so I was glad to get some photos of them at rest.

 

All in all – quite a rewarding weekend, photographically speaking.

 

Although I think George is kind of bored with the sitting around . . .

I live in a beautiful world

After work today, I sat outside on the back patio because it was such a beautiful day. The weather has been absolutely pleasant since we had the violent thunderstorm that came barreling through in the wee hours of Monday morning. My neighbor told me that her family actually took shelter in their basement which should give you some indication of how powerful this storm was. But it brought much cooler temps along with it and the pleasant weather continues. As I sat in my chair, I read the latest issue of Bon Appetit magazine {thanks, Daryl!} while listening to the birds sing.

I kept hearing a hawk screeching but it didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary and I continued to turn the pages, marveling at all the wonderful food that I would probably never make but always want to try. After about a half hour, I noticed that the sound of the hawk was still there and oddly enough, still coming from the same place. It was coming not from the sky, or from the branches of a tree and so I got up from my chair and walked toward the sound. And I was surprised to see a beautiful hawk sitting on the fence line about 50 yards from where I stood. And wonder of wonders, there was a bluebird bringing food to her babies in one of the houses along that same fence line. I had no idea a family had set up housekeeping in this box and so I went inside to get my camera.

Every time I see a hawk doing something out of the ordinary, I think that it’s my husband trying to tell me something. In this case, it would be to come and look – the bluebirds have hatched. Do you think that’s crazy?

 

Regardless, I went inside for the camera.

If bugs gross you out, I apologize. But birds gotta eat, you know.

 

I didn’t have to wait long until she came back to the nest and was able to capture several images of her bringing bugs to her little ones. Observing the birds with my camera on hand remains one of my favorite calming things to do. And I find it really interesting that different birds have such distinct personalities. The female bluebird will consistently bring food to their babies 90% more times than the male will. Maybe the male was just standing guard because I had moved my chair closer to the nest – I don’t know. I just find it interesting.

 

All of the photos here are of the female because the male, although he had food ready in his mouth, either stood guard further down the fence line, or flew and perched nearby.

With the food in his mouth the entire time. He was NOT coming to that nest (which is why I eventually left).

 

But she had a job to do and she did it relentlessly.

And she did not seem to care that I was sitting nearby.

 

I live in a beautiful world.

 

 

The grass is over a foot high, but oh well. I just hope the lawn service hasn’t forgotten us.

 

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All of the images in this post were edited using a free sample pack of actions that I am loving right now. (They’re my new favorite). You can download them here for Photoshop CS 2-6, PS Creative Cloud, and PS Elements 8-12.

Little Lusker – Elements of the Sea

I used Blue Whisper, Stellar, and Tropical Punch today.

 

Hope your week is a stellar one, my friends ~

There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in

I have become a terrible blogger. Not only do I not post regularly, I have comments in my inbox that I have not yet responded to. And my grammar in that last sentence, although not deplorable, is incorrect. I can live with that. And I will eventually get back to my inbox.

This post began, as they all do, with me searching for photos to share with you. I’ve got quite the cornucopia for you today and they really are all over the place. And as I sized them, and inserted them into the program I use (Windows Live Writer), I saw that it was beginning to get dark outside.

I mean, really dark. You’ll see at the end but for now, let’s get started, shall we?

 

This is sweet Baby M. She’s over a year old and is now walking. Her parents were away for the weekend over the 4th of July and her grandparents (Helen & Bob) were watching her at their home. She’s just woken from a nap here.

Being near babies is joyful. It just is.

 

This is darling Baby Clare. I saw her (and the rest of my family) at my brother’s home in NJ this past weekend. Baby Clare is my sister, Char’s, granddaughter.

She is the most cheerful child, at least that’s my impression. This 5-month old might raise royal hell at home for all I know, but while she was at my brother’s house, she was an absolute delight.

 

Here she is with her granddad. She is a fun little girl.

 

I organized a boating outing in June as a way of saying goodbye to my dear friend, Nancy, who has retired from teaching at our school and has moved to be closer to her children in North Carolina.

It was a beautiful day in early June on the North East River in Maryland and I invited other teachers along for the ride.

 

We boated to a pretty spot and dropped anchor. Then we listened to the John Mayer station on Pandora radio and had cocktails made with sweet tea vodka and Simply Limeaid. They were really yummy. Nancy said that she had a wonderful time and I’m planning on making a photo remembrance for her that will be a surprise. She doesn’t read my blog, so I think I’m safe in putting that out there.

 

Daylilies in a friend’s garden in NJ.

 

And this is what I captured this evening. The clouds were gathering quickly and were absolutely roiling. The dog wanted IN in a bad way so I let him back in the house when I went back for the camera. He is now upstairs in my son’s room, probably hiding under the bed.

 

This summer has been a thousand times better than last summer and it’s partly due to the fact that we’ve been taking Fridays off. As long as we stay and get our work done Monday through Thursday, we can take off Friday. It’s made all the difference and it’s really fun having 3-day weekends. My friend, Daryl, can attest to this. She’s been doing it at her place of employment in NYC for the past couple? of years.

Life was more difficult last summer, too. But those who come here regularly already know that. I don’t feel like talking about it.

The post title came from a Leonard Cohen tune, “Anthem”. I was reminded of it while watching a movie on Netflix last night called Last Love. Netflix recommended this flick for me but I never wanted to view it because it looked sad. After breaking down and watching it last night, I’m recommending it. Yes, it’s a little sad and all, but hell . . . life is sad sometimes. It’s a sweet movie and the French actress, Clemence Poesy, is absolutely luminous. And it was filmed in Paris (and Brittany, Brussels, and Cologne). Very very nice. Another plus is Gillian Anderson who plays the self-absorbed daughter.

Tonight I’m watching something a little spooky, Demi Moore in Half Light. I’ve seen it before and felt like watching it again. I would love to stay in the cottage along the Cornish coast where it was filmed. It’s a stunning little place that is actually a vacation rental.

Unique Home Stays

And it’s a perfect night to watch something a little bit spooky. I’m glad my son is home though!

Until next time, my friends ~

These are the days

It’s a rainy evening and I just finished my dinner of leftovers while catching up on the latest episode of Longmire, my favorite tv show at the moment. For dinner, I had {this} and, oh my, was it ever good.

George has come out from his hiding place to play a little fetch with me. He’s been comfortably ensconced behind a table in the living room because he could hear the distant booming of thunder and he could see the occasional flash of lightning. But he can see I’m on my computer right now, so he’s silently waiting for me to get done.

I had a fun weekend although I had to leave my little buddy at home with my son. I don’t like doing this and I try to only go places that I can bring him. But sometimes it’s kind of impossible.

I went to Philadelphia to visit with friends after picking up my friend, Karen, in NJ. Here we are going over the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge.

 

We went to the Keswick Theater to see Natalie Merchant.

 

And she was fabulous.

Karen and I went down to the stage toward the end of the concert. When Natalie Merchant and her band came out for the encore, people began giving her gifts and she was so thankful and surprised, it seemed, that she ran backstage and came out with 3 trays of chocolates. I was right at the far edge of the stage and she ran to me first, opened the chocolates and told me to take one. Wow!

 

The security guards wouldn’t allow anyone to take photos so I stood behind a column and got this one above. It’s kind of crappy but there you go.

I had so much fun! I loved 10,000 Maniacs when she was the lead singer for them and then she left to pursue a solo career in 1993.

This is from when she was with 10,000 Maniacs.

 

And this is from her first solo album, Tigerlily, in 1995. Loved that one.

 

The moon was full, the night was fun, and it was good to be out and about with long-time friends. And I still cannot believe that I didn’t get to bed until after two in the morning . . .

 

The next day, Karen and I went swimming at her sister-in-law’s house. No one was home, but they knew we were coming. It was so very very nice floating in the cold water on a hot summer’s day.

Huge sigh.

Sometimes it just feels like everything is ok.

You know?

I was born in the arms of imaginary friends

I love that line from John Mayer’s ‘Half of My Heart’ – and it’s the only real reason I’m using it as my post title today. I heard it on the way home from work this afternoon and it’s been stuck in my mind ever since.

I was born in the arms of imaginary friends.

Free to roam, made a home out of everywhere I’d been . . .

Oh, half of my heart’s got a grip on the situation

half of my heart takes time . . .

 

The photos in this post were all taken from the top of Mt. Battie in Camden, Maine, a couple of weeks ago. Two of my sisters and I left my house a day early on our vacation, planning to stop and visit my friends, Reena & Ralph Walkling, who have a home in Rockport. They drove us to nearby Camden and the top of Mt. Battie in order to give us a better perspective of the area.

Did you know that Camden and Mt. Desert Island are the only two places along the Atlantic Ocean where the mountains meet the sea?

 

The views were extraordinary from up there.

 

Reena and Ralph.

 

I met Reena blogging. We found that we both shared a love of photography, specifically landscape, nature, and bird portraits. To see her beautiful photography, you can visit her at {missing moments}.

The clouds were fabulous that day. I took this photo from the top of the tower.

 

Me, Ginny, and Char.

 

 

The famous poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay, made her home in Camden and was inspired by the beauty of the hills when at 18, she wrote her first poem, “Renascence”. There is a commemorative plaque at the top of the mountain that honors her.

 

Maine is just so beautiful and it keeps calling my name ~

 

Thanks for coming by today.