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Female (age?), late date. Note narrow, pointed outer primary (P10) feather. Shelton, Connecticut, USA. 28 October 2016. © Frank Mantlik 2016
Our females haven’t arrived yet, but this year we have two male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that appear to be claiming our backyard as their territory. So far neither one of them seems willing to cede the territory. And while they have been engaging in the typical “hummingbird wars”, I’ve also seen the two of them feeding at a single feeder at one time, as well as just sitting near each other. Time will tell if they both stay here, or if one will lose the territorial war. What will happen when the girls arrive?
Photography note — overcast days are great for capturing the male’s brilliant iridescent red throat. On a sunny day it is very difficult to capture the details in the throat feathers; they just get blown out with reflected light. But in soft light, as with today’s total cloud cover, you can easily capture the details.
This is a "Ruby Throated" Humming Bird, common to the North Georgia mountains. I sat still waiting for hours on the front porch at my mother's house in NE Georgia with the D200 on a tripod with the cable release in my hand. Fun to capture this little guy doing his thing!
Nikon D200, Sigma 70-200mmF/2.8 Lens @ 200mm, iso 200, 1/500 sec @ F.4.5, spot meter.
I have been asked several times about the backgrounds for my Hummingbird photos. In particular how I achieved the black background. It is not achieved using post processing; it is all done using camera settings and available light sources. These hummingbird photos labeled Hummingbird 1, 2, 3 and4 were all taken within a few minutes of each using approximately the same camera settings. The difference between the light and the dark background was achieved by my changing my camera angle to take advantage of the available light. The light photos were achieved using the sunlit grass as a background and the dark photos were achieved using shaded evergreen trees as the background.
Germantown, Maryland
I'm losing the afternoon light in this part of my yard so these guys are in the shadows now. I'm sure they're enjoying it more though.
Pretty soon my little friends will be moving on to their winter homes.
Many of my visitors are transients now, stopping by for a quick recharge before continuing on their journey.
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