Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Well, it seems I’ve gone and done it again… I have a seriously backlogged “pile” of bird photos to share with you. Maybe I’ll finally make some time this weekend to write about some of my bird encounters from the last couple of months. For now, I thought I would share a photo from this evening.

I noticed a rather confused Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) hovering near my sun room window two days ago—confused because there were several new feeders hanging around the yard, none of which was a nectar feeder! Feeding the hummingbirds last summer inspired me to get into bird feeding in general, so I was really glad to see some return already. Yesterday afternoon I found where I had stored the feeders last fall; cleaned them up; prepared some nectar (1 cup sugar mixed with 4 cups boiling water); let the concoction cool for a while (the freezer helped); and then traded out the finch feeder for the nectar feeder.

By the time I got home from work this afternoon, there were two male and one female hummingbirds buzzing happily around the yard. I wanted to get an exposure that would freeze one in flight, so I opted for the ISO 1600 setting. I normally would not use such a high setting on such a sunny day, but a slower speed would not have captured what I wanted as well. Luckily the photo isn’t too grainy.

I leave you with some trivia: ruby-throated hummingbirds are the only hummingbirds that visit us in the Northeast; can beat their wings 60 to 200 times per second; and consume about half their weight in sugar each day. Males have (surprise, surprise) a ruby throat, but females do not.

Acrobatics

Okay, okay. I know it’s been forever since I last wrote here, but February has turned out to be a far busier month than I had planned. One of the best parts of this week will come in a couple hours when I attend my first photography class! Sarah Reid and I will be attending together, so be sure to see to watch our progress on our photoblog at mozzarellapics.blogspot.com.

And now my reason for updating this afternoon. When I got back from a meeting in Binghamton this morning, I went to pick up my laptop from the house and looked out into the sunroom to see this:


Yup, that would indeed be a squirrel…on my window feeder. I at least have to give it props for its sheer acrobatic skills.

A Squirrelly Update

This squirrel was not thrilled to have me back home!

I had a great time in California and I hope to be able to find some time this week to regale you with some tales of my week out there. For now a quick update will have to suffice. Here's a recap:
Monday—traveled to California, saw lots of redwood trees (they really are huge!), heard lots of birds in the canopy of the redwoods
Tuesday—attended some quality workshops/plenary sessions; saw an Acorn Woodpecker
Wednesday—attended a great workshop with Bob Ditter; took train ride into Santa Cruz and walked on the beach and wharf; saw lots of gulls, a brown pelican, and several sea lions; and managed to get shoes wet in Monterey Bay
Thursday—sat outside to listen to morning plenary session
Friday—left beautiful weather to come back to the frozen tundra and…my new Canon Rebel XS!
Saturday—slept; discovered squirrels had discovered my feeders while I was away and nibbled a few holes in my sock feeder; played with my new camera.


A gorgeous day on the beach…