A Spider And A Hummingbird From Yesterday Morning

How’s that for a mixed bag?

A week ago I was asked to stop by the Antelope Island Visitor Center to pick up a thank you gift from State Parks staff for judging their Spider Fest Photo Contest so yesterday morning I visited the island again for the first time in many months. Every year I try to photograph spiders on the island at least once so while I was there I decided to take a stab at it.

 

1/800, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender

I prefer to photograph spiders in the early morning when the light is soft and I have a better chance of getting a shaded background to make their webs show up better. This orb weaver is the only spider I photographed yesterday and I thought this shot turned out pretty well, despite the side light. Or maybe because of the side light.

At that point my intended mission on the island was accomplished and I headed for home but at the last minute I decided to take a detour and look for Rocky Mountain Bee Plant at a different location. Bee plant is blooming this time of year and the flowers often attract hummingbirds, especially migrating Rufous Hummingbirds, so I wanted to see if I’d get lucky.

 

 

1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in

After waiting for longer than I wanted to this single Rufous Hummingbird showed up at the only patch of bee plant I could find. It was tough shooting because the breeze was blowing the flowers and the bird around but I do like this shot.

Notice all the greenish pollen stuck to the trailing edge of ‘his’ wing. Some of the flowers were packed very close together so as he was nectaring it would have been impossible for his wings to avoid those pollen-packed anthers at the end of their long stamens. Given the incredible speed of hummingbird wings one might expect the pollen on the wings to be flung off immediately but the fact that it’s still there is an indication of just how sticky pollen really is.

I got more photos of this hummer that I may post at another time.

Ron

 

 

 

27 Comments

  1. Great shots! How big is that spider?!

  2. That looks like a very healthy spider, maybe he’s got a lock on all the prey so no others even bother hanging about for you to photograph….

    The Rufous Hummingbird and bee plant make a gorgeous combination, I love the muted colors of that image.

    And I must defend yesterday’s Green-tailed Towhee … contrary to all the commentary about his haggard appearance, I prefer to think he’s all gelled up for a night out on the town! Perhaps just not quite finished with the rest of his preparations when you spotted him. Love that red rooster comb, have never seen that before! 😎

  3. Great photo of that Hummer!! I think everything within the frame conspires together to make it extremely compelling.

  4. Two wonderful shots. I love the spider and its web. Beautifully captured, and adore the hummer and its sticky pollen coating. I suspect they do an excellent job fertilizing plants.

    • “I suspect they do an excellent job fertilizing plants”

      Agreed, EC. Given their size, the amount of pollen that’s usually on their beak and face and the number of flowers they visit in a short time I suspect they’re very efficient.

  5. I would say you expeditiously paid forward the gift you received for judging the spider photo competition by posting these wonderfully detailed photos for us to enjoy.
    One of those “I can’t stop unseeing it” things in the spider photo is the two females facing each other on its abdomen.
    I wonder what the Rufous Hummingbird is seeking, as the flowers don’t seem to be open where he is probing.

  6. Everett F Sanborn

    Excellent photos of both the spider and the Rufous Hummingbird. I like that Rocky Mountain Bee Plant too. Very pretty. I have never seen them.
    I entered a really neat photo of a Green Lynx Spider in that contest that you informed us of, and your friend Justina loved it, but I had taken it in 2019 and the contest rules stated that it had to have been taken this year.

  7. I’m glad that you were able to get such a nice shot of the Orb Weaver– I
    think they’re a truly handsome beastie…..you make an interesting point about just how sticky pollen must be in order to stick to a hummingbird’s wing !

    • I lucked out with the spider, Kris. Getting that shot took very little effort. I took the photo from my pickup within about five minutes of starting to look for spiders and it was the only spider I photographed.

  8. Nice shot of the Orb Weaver….. Getting the webs to show us IS a challenge. 😉 Of course, the hummer is great and yes, the pollen can be VERY sticky. Honey Bees here have been loaded tho darned if I know where they’re getting it!

    • Thanks, Judy. I’m sure not seeing as many bees in my garden as I used to. The damn hornets and wasps in my back yard are taking up the slack…

      • We had a small swarm move into the old shack this spring after the previous residents were decimated by Bald Headed Hornets last fall. There were no Honey Bees in early spring and natives didn’t get the job done on the apple trees tho other berry bushes etc. did fine.

  9. Great shots!

  10. Delightful photos, both of them!

    The hummingbird photo is truly charming, and the colors are so delicate, too.

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