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Silhouetted hummingbird signifying the end of the season

September 16, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

Silhouetted hummingbird signifying the end of the season
A silhouetted broad-tailed hummingbird in a pine tree in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

What will probably end up being one of the last pictures of a hummingbird this year.

Sitting in the backyard waiting for one of these guys to visit our flowers, I heard a familiar sound from behind me in a pine tree. I swiveled around and there it was, a broad-tailed hummingbird perfectly silhouetted against the late afternoon sun.

Since this was taken last week, I have caught a few fleeting glimpses of these summertime visitors but they aren’t sticking around, mainly doing drivebys of the feeders as they work their way south for the winter.

Backyard hummingbirds for National Hummingbird Day

September 5, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

Backyard hummingbirds for National Hummingbird Day
A broad-tailed hummingbird gets a snack from a flower in Thornton, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

I just learned that these little guys have their own day that is today! That works out well as we have had a few gathering their energy in our yard the last couple of days, preparing for their long migration south.

They have been opting for eating from the zauschneria, preferring them to our artificial feeders. Kind of fun to be able to just sit in the backyard and get a photo op.

A broad-tailed hummingbird gets a snack from a flower in Thornton, Colorado. (© Tony's Takes)
A broad-tailed hummingbird gets a snack from a flower in Thornton, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A hummingbird takes a break in the shade of a tree. (© Tony's Takes)
A hummingbird takes a break in the shade of a tree. (© Tony’s Takes)
A broad-tailed hummingbird enjoys a meal from a flower. (© Tony's Takes)
A broad-tailed hummingbird enjoys a meal from a flower. (© Tony’s Takes)
A broad-tailed hummingbird decides which flower to snack on. (© Tony's Takes)
A broad-tailed hummingbird decides which flower to snack on. (© Tony’s Takes)

Beautiful broad-tailed hummingbird in dappled light

August 25, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

Beautiful broad-tailed hummingbird in dappled light
A broad-tailed hummingbird sits on a tree branch in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

It took a lot of work and patience but this pretty lady finally gave me one of the shots I was looking for this past weekend.

The hummingbirds were quite active and while I got many captures of them, I was really wanting to get a shot of one with a bit of a “spotlight” on it. For the longest time, I was either getting captures of them in full sun or in full shadow.

Then, finally, this pretty lady sat in the right spot with one bit of dappled light illuminating her head. Just gorgeous and a capture I am really pleased with.

Taken in Golden Gate Canyon State Park, Colorado.

Backyard birds make for an easy photo excursion

August 23, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

Backyard birds make for an easy photo excursion
A black-capped chickadee hangs upside down on a sunflower. (© Tony’s Takes)

I didn’t have a lot of motivation to go out looking for critters last Sunday and had managed to create myself a lengthy list of chores that needed to be done at home.

As tough as it was, I made the decision to put work before play and set about doing various things in the yard and around the house. Our local critters had another plan though.

Over the past two years, driven largely by my wife, we have been working on a major renovation of our backyard. This has included ripping out about 3,000 square feet of grass and replacing it with drought tolerant plants and flowers.

For me, one of the benefits is that we are starting to see an uptick in the number of type of birds that visit and that was wholly evident on this morning.

Among the highlights were a black-capped chickadee, an American goldfinch and even a few hummingbirds. They made it a bit hard to stay focused on work as I instead focused my camera on them. 😉

An American goldfinch hangs out on top of a tree. (© Tony's Takes)
An American goldfinch hangs out on top of a tree. (© Tony’s Takes)
A broad-tailed hummingbird grabs a snack from a feeder. (© Tony's Takes)
A broad-tailed hummingbird grabs a snack from a feeder. (© Tony’s Takes)

Bully takes over the hummingbird feeder

August 19, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

Bully takes over the hummingbird feeder
A rufous hummingbird moves to guard a feeder. (© Tony’s Takes)

Activity at the feeder we put up at our campsite in the forest had been relatively calm. We had as many as 10 hummingbirds visiting at a time, all getting along harmoniously for the most part.

However, when this orange missile showed up, things changed rapidly. Rufous hummingbirds are well known to be the bullies of the hummingbird world and this one lived up to their reputation.

For an hour he took over the scene ensuring no other bird got near the feeder, jealously guarding it against all interlopers. From a perch 20 feet away or so, he would watch and the instant another hummingbird approached, he was off like a rocket, intercepting the other hungry birds.

It was pretty entertaining to watch. Thankfully for the broad-tailed hummingbirds, the rufous eventually lost interest and things became much quieter after that.

A rufous hummingbird guards a feeder against a broad-tailed hummingbird. (© Tony's Takes)
A rufous hummingbird guards a feeder against a broad-tailed hummingbird. (© Tony’s Takes)
A rufous hummingbird moves to guard a feeder. (© Tony's Takes)
A rufous hummingbird moves to guard a feeder. (© Tony’s Takes)

Hummingbird prepares to sample a flower

August 7, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

Hummingbird prepares to sample a flower
A broad-tailed hummingbird prepares to dine on flowers. (© Tony’s Takes)

I spent six days in Colorado’s high country in Arapaho National Forest this past week and it was absolutely heaven. Just me, my family and the critters and absolutely was what the doctor ordered.

The hummingbirds provided continual entertainment as they buzzed around the flowers and feeders we had setup. Here, a broad-tailed hummingbird comes in to investigate some fireweed, probably my favorite flower.

For those that are curious.. This was taken with my new Canon R5 mated to the 100-400 L II. I’ll be posting my initial thoughts on this revolutionary new camera soon but I will go ahead and say that I am quite impressed so far.

Hummingbird focused on the food

July 22, 2019 by Tony Leave a Comment

Hummingbird focused on the food
A broad-tailed hummingbird comes in for some food. (© Tony’s Takes)

Such cool birds but so darned hard to get a good shot of. Thankfully, during a recent camping trip in Arapaho National Forest, I found a couple that were somewhat cooperative including this one.

This broad-tailed hummingbird was actually a bit of a bully. It staked claim to the feeder and had no interest in sharing, chasing off competitors regularly.

A broad-tailed hummingbird comes in for some food. (© Tony’s Takes)
A broad-tailed hummingbird comes in for some food. (© Tony’s Takes)
A broad-tailed hummingbird comes in for some food. (© Tony’s Takes)
A broad-tailed hummingbird comes in for some food. (© Tony’s Takes)

Hovering hummingbird

June 29, 2019 by Tony Leave a Comment

Hovering hummingbird
A hummingbird prepares to land at a feeder in the Colorado high country. (© Tony’s Takes)

On our trip to Colorado’s high country last week I had hoped to entice some of these fast movers in for some pics. I didn’t have that much luck and oftentimes lighting was less than ideal. I did manage some images of this cool one as it approached the feeder.

A hummingbird prepares to land at a feeder in the Colorado high country. (© Tony’s Takes)
A hummingbird prepares to land at a feeder in the Colorado high country. (© Tony’s Takes)
A hummingbird prepares to land at a feeder in the Colorado high country. (© Tony’s Takes)
A hummingbird prepares to land at a feeder in the Colorado high country. (© Tony’s Takes)

Handsome Rufous Hummingbird hangs out in the forest

July 27, 2018 by Tony Leave a Comment

This guy took a keen liking to our feeder at our campsite this past weekend. So much so in fact, he pretty much kept all other interested hummingbirds away, something which they are known to do. I failed at getting any decent flight shots but did manage some decent ones as he stood guard. Taken in Arapaho National Forest.

Handsome Rufous Hummingbird hangs out in the forest
A Rufous Hummingbird hangs out in Arapaho National Forest, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A Rufous Hummingbird hangs out in Arapaho National Forest, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A Rufous Hummingbird hangs out in Arapaho National Forest, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Pretty posing Hummingbird

March 6, 2018 by Tony Leave a Comment

We’ve been busy putting the wraps on planning our summer and so my mind is naturally drifting toward some of the photo subjects that time of year. Among the highlights of the Colorado high country are these little guys. This particular Hummingbird (a Rufous?) took to hanging out at our campsite in Lake County and gave me some nice shots, including this one when it was isolated on a long branch.

A Hummingbird poses on a branch in Colorado's high country. (© Tony’s Takes)
A Hummingbird poses on a branch in Colorado’s high country. (© Tony’s Takes)
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