The hummingbirds continued to entertain us this week, and I was fortunate to capture three (3) of them chasing each other. I say three (3) of them because I think I saw a fourth one the other night.
Until next time,
~donna
3 Little Birds
Backyard Photography
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
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
Wordless Wednesday
Hungry Eyes
One evening as we were sitting on our back patio, we heard a rustle through the trees and a thump. “What was that?” Michael asked as I quickly pulled up my camera and began snapping away. A few snaps later and I had the perfect shot of this Coopers Hawk right before he took off.
I must have searched through a hundred songs about eyes, before I landed on the title for this post (Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen). Seems appropriate to me, since he was out grocery shopping (as Michael likes to say) when he made a layover in our maple tree. What do you think? Do any other songs about eyes come to mind?
Until next time,
~donna
For the Love of Photography – Sunny Sunflower
For those of you who have been following me for a while, you may remember a post from a few years back titled For the Love of Photography “The Accidental Sunflower Garden” . The post was about two (2) beautiful sunflowers growing wild in our backyard thanks to a few leftovers from our backyard critters. They were so much fun to photograph that summer. One photo even managed to make its way into my Etsy Shop as both a greeting card and matted print.
So, you can image my delight when the same thing happened this year! Lucky for me, this time they were growing on the lower section of our yard and within easy reach of my macro lens.
When I discovered them, there were three (3) scraggly little stalks each growing at different heights. From a distance they weren’t much to look at except for a few buds and one (1) bright yellow flower standing tall with its face pointing towards the morning sun.
As I moved closer to the tallest stalk, I noticed the brightest flower was surrounded by a few other buds each waiting for their chance to shine.
Macro photography of a sunflower
Macro photography of a Sunflower
Rain droplets on the Sunflower petals
Clearly, the sunflowers had another purpose in their short lives. The garden insects quickly found them and began to nourish on their sweet nectar and delicate petals.
Green bug devouring the Sunflower petals
Fortunately for me, the bees didn’t seem to mind my camera lens snooping around them.
Bumble Bees gathering nectar
But my favorite shot is the one below with the detail of the disk florets beginning to take shape. Don’t you just love the geometric shape growing from the middle outward?
Disk Florets beginning to take shape
It’s been a few weeks now and the flowers are beginning to shrivel up and the stalks are slowly drooping towards the ground. I’ll miss my little sunflower garden once the blooms have all faded away. Hopefully, if they’re left undisturbed, they’ll dissolve into the earth and will come back bigger, stronger and brighter next year!
Donna
Website: Donna Robinson Photography
🛒Etsy Shop: Donna Robinson Photo
Thoughts – Staying Focused
My 52 Week Photography Challenge took a detour…….well it pretty much stalled. I have no clue why except that I just grew busy with life and other activities. It’s really ok because it served it’s purpose for jump starting my photography in 2019. And, it definitely gave my father something to do this winter when it was just a little too cold for him to venture outside and tinker in the yard (read my post here 52 Week Challenge: Week 2 – “My Everyday”). The remainder of the challenge list has some fun/interesting topics coming up so perhaps I’ll get inspired and hit the reset button…..we’ll see ;-)!
Photography Challenge or not, I am still (err) focused on my photography and continue to find other outlets and opportunities to broaden my skills. I finally pulled together my website (Donna Robinson Photography) and I have shot a corporate event and a newborn photo session, too! Plus, I have a part-time job helping a friend of ours (a personal trainer) with his social media, shooting his instructional videos and shooting other content for marketing purposes. So, yes, I’m still actively following my passion!
And then there is always our backyard. Between the garden, the birds and the critters there is always something to photograph. The camera and “the big lens” as my husband refers to it, comes out every evening as we sit on our patio and catch-up about the day.
This beautiful blue tipped hawk was out shopping in our yard one evening.
The squirrels are always entertaining at how nimble they are. But, we had to scale back on the bird feeders because they were devouring our supply too quickly!
My husband moved the bird bath to the front of the flower bed and the activity has definitely picked up! This little guy spent 2 – 3 minutes cleaning up!
Let’s Ride!
But our favorite critters are the chipmunks! They are fast and efficient in how they gather their food. We’ve actually given three (3) of them names because of their consistent patterns for gathering food: “Lefty” because he comes out from the rocks on the left side of the house; “Malcom” because he comes in from the top middle of the wall; and the “Righty” because…….well you get the point.
This little guy found water in the base of this lantern.
Seriously?!?! When have you ever seen a chipmunk in a tree? Needless to say, he didn’t reach the bird feeder………but, he found the stash we left on the ground for him.
Michael’s convinced that he can get them trained to eat out of his hands by the end of summer. He may be right……one little guy is getting brave and comes closer to us every night!
Now I know why some of my petunias didn’t make it!?!?
The “Little Begger!”
How do you “stay focused” on your passion?
Until next time, Happy Summer!
Donna
Fall Fun With Macro Photography
The Fall colors finally popped this week in Atlanta, but I’m afraid they will be short lived with more wind and rain on the way, tonight. The bird baths are full of both leaves and rain water and the garden (still needing some TLC) is totally covered as well. But, as the leaves have turned and dropped, Mother Nature has given me plenty of photo ops!
I haven’t used my Macro lens in a while so I thought today would be a good day to get outside and take some practice shots. So, I slid my feet into my warm, fuzzy slippers and headed outdoors.
Ugh, this bird bath is a total mess. But, don’t the leaves, water and the color of the birdbath compliment each other?
This little bird bath sits on the ground atop a few bricks…….we like to make sure the “critters” have water, too! And, because it’s on the ground I had to get a little creative to take these pictures…..thank goodness for the display view button!
The Fall colors also gave me a good backdrop for my (still) blooming knock-out roses.
Here’s a snapshot of my garden floor……like I said, it is totally covered with leaves!
Fingers crossed we’ll have a few more days of the Fall colors……..I don’t think I’m quite ready for the snow!
Have a great week!
Donna
Donna Robinson Photography 