Monday, May 20, 2024

[Dave]

A few weeks ago I announced that for the second time a hummingbird was building a nest in a plant under our front eaves. I added that it will be very hard to get photos because height and location of the nest. That has turned out to be true.

Yesterday I took a couple of shots of the Mama hummer (I'm calling her Annabel, because she is an Anna's Hummingbird.) in the nest incubating one or two eggs. I wasn't expecting the photos to be very good because I had to use a very slow shutter speed since the nest was in a dark area under the eaves.

Here is what the camera captured...

   

But I decided to give processing a try anyway. I was very surprised and pleased that my processed image (cropped, brightened a lot, and sharpened a little) far exceeded my expectations...

   

[Man From Ironbark]

Wow. You are so privileged to have her choose such a spot.

The only birds that want to nest on the house around here are the pestiferous imported starlings sparrows and English Blackbirds.

Though I have had wagtails nest on the TV antenna bracket post.

A pair of sparrowhawks nested in my big silky oak for about ten years.

They can fly really fast.

[Luv2shoot]

Dave, that blows me away that you were able to retrieve that delightful image of MAMA hummer from the block hole!  Wow, you must shoot RAW.
Well done, Dave, and hope that there will be many more good like this to follow.

Peter, my man, how ya doing?
How fast can they fly?  REAL FAST and your photo proved it.
Funny, Peter, I enjoyed your pan shot.

Well, here was another I shared with my photo club.  I pushed the sliders to create this artistic rendition to satisfy the Creative Colors topic. 

Enjoy the day and the start of a new week.
LORELL

[Dave]

Thanks MFI - yes, I am fortunate that twice in 4 years an Anna's hummer has nested in my front yard.

The American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) used to be called a Sparrowhawk. And it is pretty fast and can also hover for a short time.

Is your sparrowhawk the Collared Sparrowhawk (Accipiter cirrocephalus)?

Thanks Lorell. Yes, I shoot in RAW, but like you I was amazed at what a great job my Nikon did in preserving detail and sharpness. I have another similar photo of Annabel just leaving the nest after being startled by the sound of the shutter - I'll post it tomorrow.

I love your photo: great values and colors, a sharp I and nice bokeh background, and a textbook example of how to use leading lines

[Rich]

Wow Dave! Awesome adjustment work!

Peter, nice abstract! Good panning technique.

Lorell, beautiful! Foreground looks like stained glass!

The wind is blowing today, as the weatherman says.." A little breezy today." Neighbors pup tent blowing away across our condo lawn.

[Man From Ironbark]

Thanks MFI - yes, I am fortunate that twice in 4 years an Anna's hummer has nested in my front yard.

The American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) used to be called a Sparrowhawk. And it is pretty fast and can also hover for a short time.

Is your sparrowhawk the Collared Sparrowhawk (Accipiter cirrocephalus)?

Yes. Our Australian or Collared Sparrowhawk is Accipiter cirrocephalus.





The Australian brown goshawk is almost identical during certain phases other than being a larger bird.

[Dreamin]

Dave, You brought that hummingbird shot out of darkness!! Well done!!
Peter, that's a fast bird, ha ha ha!!
Lorell, I really like this floral....That's an interesting treatment! Nice composition.
Rich, and there goes the tent! Not too long ago in the news one of those bouncy houses at a kids party flew up in the air and landed on a busy highway WITH kids inside. A camera captured one of the kids running out of the thing....OMG, those can be dangerous!! Hope your tent was empty!!
Interesting birds, Peter. Sometimes I can't figure out what some of the hawks I see are....due to similarities in different phases.....