Wordless Wednesday – Mourning Dove
birds
Sunday Vibes – Humming Along
If you’ve followed along with my blog for a while, you know that one of my all-time favorite bird is the hummingbird. They are cute, swift and very challenging to photograph.
Except for the occasional scout, they were a little late showing up to the garden this year. But finally, this past Monday we had an emerald green hummer land on our feeder.
As you might imagine, Hummingbirds get their name from the humming sound their wings make when in flight. They hover at rapid wing-flapping rates, which vary from around 12 beats per second in the largest species to 99 per second in small hummingbirds (source: Wikipedia).
The feathers on a hummingbird don’t come from a specific pigment. Instead, the top layer contains prism-like cells that reflect the light (source: Hummingbird Info). Look how shiny and multicolored this little guy is.
I’m a little rusty when it comes to capturing these cute garden fairies in flight. Normally, they fly at a speed of 25 – 30 miles per hour and when threatened they have a burst speed of 30 – 50 miles per hour (source: Hummingbird 101).
This was a lucky shot of this guy getting ready to leave the feeder.
I hope you enjoyed the fun facts about hummingbirds, today. Rest assured there will be more posts this summer of these beautiful creatures so stay tuned.
Until next time, have a great week and keep humming along.
~donna
Sunday Vibes – Keep Calm and Chirp On
Happy Sunday, everyone! I’m still hanging out back with the bird feeders this week. There’s always lots of activity around them which makes for great photography opportunities.
Today, I’m featuring this cute fella which is a Tufted Titmouse. He’s a charming little songbird that belongs to the Chic-a-dee family.
According to Cornell Labs it can be found in the Eastern forests and is also a frequent visitor to bird feeders. An interesting fact about them, is they can’t excavate their own nest cavities. Instead, they are dependent on natural holes left by woodpeckers. I guess you could say this is a great example of “one man’s (um, bird’s) trash is another man’s treasure?!”
Hmmm. It looks like they’re also talented in gathering their food upside down. I really don’t know what this was about, but, hey it seemed to work for him. Who am I to argue?
I hope everyone has a great week!
Until next time, “keep calm and chirp on.”
~donna
Sunday Vibes – Dine and Dash
“I asked a bird for advice. It said to just wing it.”
There was a group of finches hanging out at the feeder the other day. They all seemed to be having a good time, except for the middle one.
He was either uncomfortable with the company or was in a hurry to get to another feeder, because he never really settled in to eat, except for just a few bites.
As quickly as he arrived, he was taking off.
Oh well, nothing wrong with a little “dining and dashing.”
Until next time,
~donna
Hide and Seek – American Goldfinch
I don’t know if he was intentionally trying to hide from the other birds or not, but this little guy sure did give it a good try. So much so, I had a really hard time keeping the lens focused on him. You can tell because these photos aren’t as sharp as I would like.
This is one (1) of three (3) American Goldfinches we have visiting our yard this year.
Did you know the American Goldfinch is the state bird of Iowa, New Jersey and Washington?
They are also strict vegetarians in the bird world, eating an entirely vegetable diet albeit swallowing an occasional insect.
A breeding male Goldfinch can be identified by their bright yellow and black foreheads, black wings and white markings. They also breed later than most North American birds and wait to nest until June or July. This is the optimal time when milkweed, thistle, and other plants have produced their fibrous seeds, which goldfinches build into their nests and to feed their young.
I’m hoping to capture more of these little birds this summer. They always brighten my day.
Until next time,
~donna
Species Information Source: Cornell Lab – All About Birds
Shall we Dance?
Spring is finally here and time to begin the afternoon birdwatching. Our backyard is full of all kinds of birds, especially house finches and we’ve made it very attractive for them with our new bird feeders.
I started to caption this “dinner for 2,” but they looked more like they were dancing (probably more like fighting) for their space at the dinner table.
Until next time,
~donna
31 Days of July Photography Challenge – Day 10
Day 10 – We have a new visitor at the birdfeeder today, an Eastern Female Downy Woodpecker. According to All About Birds “Downy Woodpeckers are small versions of the classic woodpecker body plan. They have a straight, chisel-like bill, blocky head, wide shoulders, and straight-backed posture as they lean away from tree limbs and onto their tail feathers. The bill tends to look smaller for the bird’s size than in other woodpeckers.”
Editing Notes: I applied a haze removal before cropping and made some minor level adjustments to the lighting before applying a final vignette for accent.
Field Notes: 170mm; Exposure: 1/100 sec, f/9, ISO 1250
Until next time,
~donna
31 Days of July – Photography Challenge Day 9
Day 9 – House Hen Finch. This little bird was having way too much fun at the feeder today, but I was lucky enough to get a shot of him staring at me. His face is not quite as crisp as I would have liked, but it’s nature and sometimes you just go with what you get. I’m also linking this to Becky’s Simply Red Squares Challenge.
Editing Notes: Today, I applied the normal haze removal, level adjustments (lighting) and some sharpness adjustments followed with the usual cropping and vignette application.
Field Notes: Focal Length: 400mm; Exposure 1/125 sec, f/9, ISO 1250
Until next time.
~donna
31 Days of July – Photography Challenge Day 8
Day 8 – What was I thinking when I started a personal photography challenge in July, in Georgia? The temps are hot, and the humidity is worse. But here I am doing the best I can shooting photos from inside the house. Hopefully, this heat will break soon, and I’ll be able to venture out to find more interesting subjects. So, bear with me on this journey, you may be seeing a few more bird, squirrels or macro photos.😉
Today’s photo is of one our frequent mourning dove visitors. At any given time, there could be one, two or upwards to five of them hanging out around the bird feeders or on this limb waiting their turn. The complexity of this shot came from shooting it through a window screen. Fortunately, the bird didn’t move too much, and with an ISO of 1250 I was able to maintain focus and achieve somewhat of a crisp photo. Editing comprised of cropping and level adjustments in both lighting and color to achieve the depth and detail. I also applied a vignette outline.
Field Notes: Focal Length: 400mm; Exposure: 1/125 sec, f/9 ISO 1250
Until next time,
~donna
When Cardinals Appear – An Afternoon Visitor
They say when cardinals appear a loved one who has passed has come to visit. Cardinals are frequent visitors to our yard so it’s hard to say whether or not they’re family members coming for a visit, or just simply coincidental visitors.
Last Sunday as I was in the kitchen meal prepping for the week out of the corner of my eye, I could see this little fellow hanging out on a bare tree limb. He was a perfectly bright red color with a beautiful black mask surrounding his beak. I desperately wanted to snap a few pictures of him, but I knew he would fly away before I could get the camera ready. To my surprise he just kept sitting there, looking around from side to side, puffing up his chest with no sign of budging.
Finally, I pulled out my camera, attached the 200m to 400m lens (the big lens as Michael calls it), raised the blinds and……..ugh! The windows have screens on them! Obviously, auto focus wouldn’t work, so I switched to manual focus. That was a little better, but not perfect. Trying to hold the camera (the big lens is heavy) and adjust the manual focus made it difficult to get a sharp image. Oh well, he was such a pretty bird I decided to make the best of it and kept on shooting.
This guy stayed on the limb for at least 10 – 15 minutes. Was it a family member? Who really knows for sure, but for me personally, just having him hang out for a while brought some comfort and a smile to my face.
Until next time!
–donna
Donna Robinson Photography 