15-MAY-2014
Pileated Woodpecker at Nest
This picture is the result of patience and luck. I have set on this nest 5 times for at least 10 hours total before I caught this bird outside the nest. Generally she would just look at me from the shadows, and when I relaxed momentarily, she would fly off and I came up empty. Today she flew away and came back. I take that to mean that the babies are now hatched. She seemed feed them, but I am only guessing.
05-MAY-2014
Battle Stations
This is the pose, the look of a hummingbird ready to launch an attack. Note the fanned tail, posture and cock of the neck. The raised wing is not caught in mid beat, instead it is cocked making the hummer look much larger. You will see this pose often when another hummer flies very near.
04-MAY-2014
Peek_A_Boo
Odd picture of a female hummer watching me between the twigs.
02-MAY-2014
The Chase
Taken just a moment after the hovering female displaced the flying male hummingbird.
01-MAY-2014
The Moment of Attack
Nobody could time this. It shows the moment of attack just before the lower hummer bails out. This happens constantly. All one needs to do is focus on the perched bird, watch for gestures indicating incoming, and shoot about 2,000 frames for every good picture. This will test your patience, but it is worth it when you get one.
Locked and Loaded, Hummingbird Black and White
When getting ready to fight, tail flares are the standard move. I shot this one intentionally as a silhouette in direct backlighting without exposure compensation, that would be roughly +2 stops. Anyway, I like the effect, and I like to take it to black and white with the contrast kicked up, and a blue filter to improve the sky. Something different.