Today's Backyard Wildlife

I saw a hummingbird essentially taking a bath in the water droplets our sprinkler left on the leaves of a potentilla bush. I've never seen one do this before. The potentilla has small leaves but pretty densely packed. The sprinkler left water drops all over the surface of the bush. A juvenile male Anna's hummingbird was walking around, not flying, on top of the bush and rubbing his head, chest, neck, wings, everything except rolling over. The only thing I can think of is it was using the drops to bath in. Kind of cool. And I now can get the chickadees to come to the feeder while I'm holding it in my hand. Well, at least one chickadee trusts me enough to come to the feeder.
 
Nubsnstubs said:
Not my yard again, but the same customer with the large flowers in another post. This bird was hatched here and hasn't left yet. It may never leave as there is plenty of wild food for it. I don't know what kind of hawk it is. It's also not too squeamish about people less than 20 feet from it. It's in a large Mesquite.
View attachment 291402
............... Nubs
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Here it is again. It is allusive. It's been living here about 6 months I know of. Could have been hatched here, but there is plenty of food, so no reason to leave.
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.................. Nubs
 
Mr. Peet said:
$4.59 for premium.... We are at $4.30 for low grade, 87. Premium is $5 something. Usually about a dollar more than low grade.
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I guess if you can grab a chicken along with the fill up that's not bad.

I saw a house finch in the ghost juniper out back this morning and it had the most red color I've seen on a finch. But by the time I got out there he moved. I snuck a little closer and then waited, hoping he'd come back but never did. I grabbed a couple other shots while I was standing around.
house finch female drinking 2026.webp
Female house finch drinking in the bird bath.

annas female flying 2026.webp
Female Anna's hummingbird flying above a fitzer bush, she was drinking the water drops.

house finch male early morning sun 2026.webp
Male house finch. This is sort of like the one I wanted to photograph but this one doesn't have nearly as much red as the other one.
 
DLJeffs said:
I guess if you can grab a chicken along with the fill up that's not bad.

I saw a house finch in the ghost juniper out back this morning and it had the most red color I've seen on a finch. But by the time I got out there he moved. I snuck a little closer and then waited, hoping he'd come back but never did. I grabbed a couple other shots while I was standing around.
View attachment 291840
Female house finch drinking in the bird bath.

View attachment 291841
Female Anna's hummingbird flying above a fitzer bush, she was drinking the water drops.

View attachment 291842
Male house finch. This is sort of like the one I wanted to photograph but this one doesn't have nearly as much red as the other one.
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These are great! Seems like birds are so hard to capture.
 
Nice! And sh
DLJeffs said:
I guess if you can grab a chicken along with the fill up that's not bad.

I saw a house finch in the ghost juniper out back this morning and it had the most red color I've seen on a finch. But by the time I got out there he moved. I snuck a little closer and then waited, hoping he'd come back but never did. I grabbed a couple other shots while I was standing around.
View attachment 291840
Female house finch drinking in the bird bath.

View attachment 291841
Female Anna's hummingbird flying above a fitzer bush, she was drinking the water drops.

View attachment 291842
Click to expand...

Nice! And sharp too! What gear you use?
DLJeffs said:
Male house finch. This is sort of like the one I wanted to photograph but this one doesn't have nearly as much red as the other one
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I use a Canon 7D body with a Canon L Series 100 - 400 zoom. Wish I could afford a better long lens but this one works most of the time. I hand hold it usually, especially for wildlife because it moves so much, but if I have time to plan I've used it on a tripod and get cleaner shots.
 
DLJeffs said:
I use a Canon 7D body with a Canon L Series 100 - 400 zoom. Wish I could afford a better long lens but this one works most of the time. I hand hold it usually, especially for wildlife because it moves so much, but if I have time to plan I've used it on a tripod and get cleaner shots.
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That's a great combo. I like a cropped sensor. I had a generations old consumer grade Canon camera and wanted to upgrade to a Canon 7D iii once it came out (rumors). Never did. Then Canon decided to discontinue mirrored DSLRs and I ran into a deal on the 5DS.

As for lenses, I had a Sigma DG 100-400 lens which had very good glass, but the zoom would creep. Missed so many shots and I mostly used 400mm only. Went with the 400mm 5.6 prime (Not the f4 lol). I've been happy with it, but sometimes I do miss the zoom. And minimum focus is 11 feet. Not good. Thought about going back to your lens.
 
The 5DS is a great body. I bought my L series used from a pro photographer. She had it completely overhauled by Canon. Like you, I 99% of the time shoot fully zoomed out. I did upgrade the kit lens that came with 7D to a better fstop. I periodically look for a used straight 400mm f4.0. It reportedly works well with a teleconverted to get is up to a 600mm and still have autofocus.
 
DLJeffs said:
The 5DS is a great body. I bought my L series used from a pro photographer. She had it completely overhauled by Canon. Like you, I 99% of the time shoot fully zoomed out. I did upgrade the kit lens that came with 7D to a better fstop. I periodically look for a used straight 400mm f4.0. It reportedly works well with a teleconverted to get is up to a 600mm and still have autofocus.
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Yes, I really like the 5DS. Got it for a third of the normal price. Canon was closing out their latest mirrored cameras. BUT, it's NOT a 5D. Better tracking with my lens than my old camera, but ISO is only up to 6400.
 
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