I must share my latest accomplishment. It isn’t something that’s huge, but it is satisfying. In my May 2023 column, I told the story of how I’ve been enjoying photographing birds in my yard with my 150-600-mm telephoto lens. It has become a favorite pastime for me to relax and try to be inconspicuous while I lay in wait.
I’ve had great luck photographing the downy woodpeckers, but they are not very shy and don’t fly off easily. It’s easy to photograph them. The same is true with our Steller’s Jays. I love their flash of blue in the forest, and they can pose for some nice photos. The same with the other birds that inhabit the forest. Dark eyed juncos, robins, varied thrush, and nuthatches. I have beautiful photos of all of them.
There have been two birds that have eluded my lens. The large pileated woodpeckers are always teasing me from the trees with their jungle call. The second one, unbelievably, was the little native rufous hummingbird. These little birds can migrate up to 3000 miles (about 4828.03 km) between their nesting grounds in Alaska and Canada to their winter homes in Mexico. Pretty impressive for such a small bird.
The little hummingbirds are not scarce here in the summer, but they are a challenge to photograph. And furthermore, the photo that I wanted was of one away from something not a part of Nature such as a hummingbird feeder. I wanted a photo of one in their natural surroundings. And so, there were two challenges in getting my photo of one of the little birds.
What makes them a challenge to photograph first is their small size, about 3 inches long and weighing only 3-4 grams, coupled with their extraordinary flying skills they are hard to zero in on. The rufous hummingbird can beat its wings 52-62 beats per second. The average speed of a hummingbird is 26 miles per hour but can reach speeds as fast as 55 miles per hour in a dive.
These little speed demons and their propensity to run at the slightest movement has made them such a challenge. They would come close and hover, I would bring my camera up and they would fly away, forget having time to focus on one and trip the shutter. And I had one heck of a time getting a photo away from the feeder. I knew that I had to change my tactic but didn’t know what to do.
The other day I made a major breakthrough. As I sat there, I tried to observe the bird as it flew away. It seemed like it would fly away and then the sound of it would stop soon after. I sat and tried to follow it until I could see where it was going and sure enough, I was able to see it sitting on a branch in a maple tree not far away. It seemed to go to the same branch each time, so I set my camera and focus and waited.
I was excited when I was able to take some excellent photos as it sat there in the tree in its natural surroundings. It would turn its head slightly and its beautiful iridescent gorget would shine in the sunlight. It was exciting. I guess you could say that there was another lesson in patience and persistence behind me, and some beautiful photos of my friend the hummingbird for my portfolio.