{"id":101191,"date":"2021-08-10T05:55:58","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T11:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=101191"},"modified":"2021-08-10T05:55:58","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T11:55:58","slug":"rufous-hummingbirds-like-amaranth-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/10\/rufous-hummingbirds-like-amaranth-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Rufous Hummingbirds Like Amaranth Too"},"content":{"rendered":"

They just like it for different reasons than most other birds.<\/p>\n

As you may have guessed from my title, yesterday was another day of photographing birds in my garden instead of going up into the mountains where the wildfire smoke was even worse than it was down here in the valleys.<\/p>\n

Light was low through the dense smoke so I didn’t have much shutter speed but I’m becoming a convert to the advantages of shooting in smoky light. It’s almost like shooting with reflective snow on the ground because the smoky-white sky disperses the light and fills in the harsh shadows that are usually a problem in my garden. In addition I’m discovering that that kind of light does a very nice job of revealing bird colors, especially with hummingbirds. And thankfully my camera is having no trouble at all acquiring sharp focus on my subjects in such low light, as long as they aren’t moving very fast<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Today I’m going to focus on a young but highly aggressive Rufous Hummingbird that repeatedly used the same high perch as a lookout so he could see other hummingbirds coming into what he considers to be ‘his’ territory and chase them away.<\/p>\n

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1\/640, f\/5.6, ISO 1000, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

The very tallest tip of this amaranth seed head was his favorite lookout. Other birds in my garden use these seed heads as a source of food but for him this particular one gives him the best vantage point to survey my entire yard for hummingbird intruders, especially those who show up at my single hummingbird feeder about 30′ to the left of this perch. It’s a difficult perch for me to get a clear shot of through all the other amaranths but since he liked it so much I did the best I could.<\/p>\n

Each of the five photos in this post was taken over a 97 minute period when he would sporadically and unpredictably return to this particular seed head. Most of the birds he was chasing off were Black-chinned Hummingbirds but occasionally he made life difficult for House Finches too. The little rascal definitely has an attitude.<\/p>\n

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1\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 1000, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

I didn’t have enough shutter speed for most takeoff and flight shots but occasionally I got him with his wings out just prior to liftoff.<\/p>\n

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1\/800, f\/5.6, ISO 1000, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Usually he was looking to our left toward the feeder but he had to guard the back of my garden too so sometimes I caught him facing to my right. He could scrunch up into a fat little ball like this or…<\/p>\n

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1\/1600, f\/5.6, ISO 1000, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

stretch out into a long and lean defensive machine. Here he’s spotted another hummer at the feeder so he’s about to take off and go on the attack.<\/p>\n

This is the only shot I got of him with his gorget lit up (in this light it surprised me.) His gorget isn’t very big yet, presumably because he’s a young bird.<\/p>\n

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1\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 1000, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

One last shot as he’s leaning into takeoff toward the feeder and another Black-chinned Hummingbird intruder.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For most of the summer the only hummers I’ve seen in my yard have been Black-chinned so this migrating Rufous Hummingbird is a recent arrival. This species is known for its aggressiveness but even so he’s having to work hard to establish his place in the hummingbird hierarchy of my yard and garden. And despite the smoky conditions this bird photographer is reaping the rewards.<\/p>\n

Apologies to those readers who may be growing weary of seeing amaranth seed heads as perches in my photos but that’s what’s available to me right now so that’s what we get.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They just like it for different reasons than most other birds.<\/p>\n

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