This morning, I noticed a flock of lesser goldfinches grabbing seeds from our black eyed susans and Mexican sunflowers.
They’re cute little #birbs, and it was fun watching them, mostly because they’re just heavy enough that when they land on the plant next to a flower, the stem bends down, and they end up hanging upside down trying to get their lunch.
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After having much of the summer with no birds using the birdhouse (which was built for house finches), a few pairs of western bluebirds have been checking it out. At one point this morning, there were five birds either on or in the birdhouse. I didn’t think any birds would be nesting this time of year, but I don’t know much about the native birds yet.
In any case, I enjoy watching them in the morning, so I’m glad to see them poking around the birdhouse. I’ll probably make two or three more to put up next spring.
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I’ve been working on this image a bit today. I bought an Epson P700 a month or so ago, and have been printing some images for my own enjoyment.
The “Carbon Black” feature in the P700 seems like just the thing to use on an image like this, but one of the things I needed to remember to do was not set the darkest black in the image to 2 or 3, so that you can see the difference between it and the next-darkest black (trying to avoid the blacks blocking up). With the Carbon Black setting, you need to have full range data for it to do its magic.
I don’t have it completely figured out, but I’m getting prints I’m happy enough about to set them aside so I can maybe frame them later. I’m glad I bought the printer, and I’m glad I’m sticking to an iOS-only workflow. It’s (re-) teaching me things I’d forgotten over the years through familiarity.
Next up on the list to relearn: “selective color” so I can punch up the yellow flowers at his feet just a tiny bit.
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Last week, we were out on our morning walk and this raven was in one of our neighbors’ yards, fluffing himself up in the wind.
He didn’t seem to mind that we stopped to watch him.
He even stopped and checked us out briefly.
They’re pretty birds, but plenty hard to photograph. Especially since my camera with the big lens is at home near the hummingbird feeder.
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We put up a second hummingbird feeder yesterday, and Rufus, the rufous hummingbird is off guarding that one.
We’ve had a few different black-chinned hummingbirds who have been coming to the feeder longer, and they’re getting to enjoy the old feeder (which is closer to our window) more now. And when they’re not feeding, they get to perch on the yucca stalk near the feeder.
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Our rufous hummingbird is sitting on top of the hummingbird feeder, protecting it from any other birds again. This seems to be his mid-morning to mid-afternoon perch. Earlier in the morning, he sits on the yucca stalk in the sun. And in the evening, he goes to the juniper a little farther out in the yard.
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This little guy is, I think, the same one I got a couple pictures of yesterday. He’s jealously guarding the feeder again this morning, but with the better lighting I got a better picture of him. Pretty brilliant red, I think. And pretty big attitude for such a little guy.
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I think this is a female Anna’s Hummingbird. She spent about fifteen minutes feeding at our butterfly bush, and she let me walk up to within about five feet. With the big zoom lens, that means pretty dang big pictures.
The strange thing is, I have never seen this hummingbird at our feeder, but my sweetie says she sees her a lot in the front yard, feeding on the flowers there. I wonder if she doesn’t like the aggressive guys that hang out by the feeder.
Merlin (@MerlinBirdID) says she’s either a broad-tailed or a calliope hummingbird. Guess I’m going to have to keep an eye out and see if I can spot the differences.
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One of the hummingbirds has taken its territoriality to a new level today. We came home from the grocery store to see it claiming the feeder.
Here’s another photo with the exposure turned up so you can see him better. I think it’s a rufous hummingbird. He looks much more red when he flies out into the sunshine.
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Early in the morning, there will often be two or three hummingbirds fighting for access to our feeder. They’re territorial little critters, and aren’t the best at sharing. Guess they should watch more Sesame Street.
Anyway, I’ve been trying to capture more than one of them in a frame at a time for a while now. Neither of these are great exposures, but I at least succeeded in getting multiple birds in-frame.
They make quite a racket when three of them are buzzing around the feeder.
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