![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/rufous-hummingbird-8540-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"rufous-hummingbird-8540-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nI figured I’d posted my last hummingbird photo for a good long time but yesterday morning I had unexpected inspiration from a late migrator.<\/p>\n
I hadn’t seen a hummingbird at my feeder, or anywhere in my yard, for almost a week so two days ago while I was doing yard work I decided to take my feeder down. Morning temps had been in the low 40’s and I wanted to get it emptied and stored away before it froze and cracked, something that’s happened before. But I got so involved in my yard work I forgot to do it.<\/p>\n
And I’m glad I forgot because yesterday morning, soon after dawn in very cold temperatures, I spotted a female Black-chinned Hummingbird almost glued to my feeder. She was there for a very long time, almost like that feeder was her security blanket. It warmed my heart to see her – to the point that last night, just for the fun of it, I reviewed all of my Rufous Hummingbird photos taken just over three weeks ago on Antelope Island.<\/p>\n
This is one of them, inspired by my unexpected visitor yesterday morning.<\/p>\n
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1\/4000, f\/5.6, ISO 1250, 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 was surprised to find one of those photos that I liked this much that I hadn’t already posted. I think this one has a lot of positives, including the flight posture of the bird, the feeding behavior and the crisp sharpness of both bird and flower. It’s quite unusual for me to get an entire bee plant flower cluster in the frame, much less this sharp, and the hummer is also sharp from stem to stern. I was quite pleased the photo turned out this well in the very smoky conditions that required me to shoot at an unusually high ISO setting to get the shutter speed I needed for a hummer in flight..<\/p>\n The background of dried grasses is another matter. I’m not terribly fond of the color but the cleanness of the background certainly sets off the bird and flower nicely.<\/p>\n This summer I’ve been spending an unusual amount of time on my patio enjoying my yard and garden and the hummingbirds at my nearby feeder have been a big part of that joy so I’ve been missing them. A lot. I’ve now decided to leave my feeder out for as long as possible this fall for the late migrating hummingbirds.<\/p>\n If it freezes and cracks on an unexpectedly cold night when I’ve forgotten to empty it I’ll just buy a new one next spring. Big deal.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I figured I’d posted my last hummingbird photo for a good long time but yesterday morning I had unexpected inspiration from a late migrator.<\/p>\n