Tag Archives: ruby-throated hummingbird

Hummingbirds

End of the Hummingbird Season

ruby throated humming bird enjoying pineapple sage

Here in the southeast our fall weather is just about upon us. The mosquitoes and the heat are just a few days away from leaving us for months.

The ruby-throated hummingbirds have been fairly light this year. Here in NE Atlanta they arrived on time, right around the end of March but it wasn’t until late July that we saw any hanging around. My best guess is that in this region we are just in a hummingbird lull that has been happening for the last couple of years.

This should be nothing to worry about. I haven’t read any articles suggesting that our favorite jewel is on the decline. My own reasoning concerning the bird is not scientific, just an observation followed by very limited local nectar sale’s data.

With the middle of October just around the corner the last ruby-throated stragglers will soon be leaving North America. Hopefully they will have an excellent winter in Southern Mexico and Central Latin America and come back in abundance!

Hummingbirds

Hummingbird Fighting All the Time?

Why Are Our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds Fighting All The Time?

Ruby Throated Hummingbird 08-26-2016 1
This time of year is the height of hummingbird season in North East Georgia. Our main visitor to these parts (that is east of the Mississippi River) is the ruby-throated hummingbird.

These jewels of summer spend most of their time in the tree branches guarding their food supply. I get asked all the time “why are they fighting when I have two, three, or even more feeders available?”

The probably answer is even though their territories have been compacted by the sheer number of hummingbirds there is enough natural food in the area to keep the birds spread out. In other words it’s easy to chase off one or two competitors but if you had fifty birds they would have to be more cordial and share the nectar.

These hummingbirds will be with us until the 2nd week of October. Keep your feeders out until November and you will catch some stragglers.

Hummingbirds

The Super Zoom Photo

Here’s the tip for taking super zoom photos:

The problem: The more you zoom the more any shake in the camera at all will cause some blurriness in the final picture.

The answer: Just don’t touch the camera!

 

Ruby-throated Hummingbird 06-26-2016 3

The photo above is a male ruby-throated hummingbird. I took this shot  using a Nikon D3200 (opening price point for a DSLR) and a 200mm lens.

I put the camera on a low end tripod and had previously purchased a ML-L3 remote control for the camera ($30 at Best Buy). The remote gives me the chance to move away from the camera (max distance 16′) and above all I don’t TOUCH the camera giving me a perfectly still shot.

Give it a try, I believe the ML-L3 remote will work with many different Nikon cameras. There must be a Cannon equivalent as well.