Our hummers are very seasonal here at The Ranch, seeing our first normally in the middle of May and the last one the middle of Sept. We have one or two adults at the start of the nesting season and not until the kids are out do we have a dozen or so buzzing about. We have fives species that visit us, the Anna, Black-chinned, Allen’s, Rufous and the sweet little Calliope Hummers here. We had none the first year here so we feel fortunate for those here this summer. We do most of our attracting with plants which definitely love all the attention they receive, from us and the hummers. We do have three feeders at opposite ends of the property. And as you might imagine, each one has been claimed as the sole property of one hummer. We’ve seen that “owner” change a couple of times. The feeder I set up to photograph at belonged at first to a Calliope, then it changed hands to an adult, male Rufous. And now there is an immature Rufous male and he is the funnest hummer I’ve photographed!

One of the great things is he’s not shy, not one bit! I’m right at the MFD of the Z400f4.5, about six feet away from the feeder just standing there with the Z 9 / Z400f4.5 / Z1.4x on a tripod with the SmallRig Fluid head (on a side note, the Z400f4.5 is a fabulous lens! Sharp, fast, light, I’m loving it!). This little guy is pretty darn smart, or clever, or devilish depending on your point of view. In his taking “ownership” of the feeder comes defending his new territory. He will occasionally sit on a nearby perch and swoop down on an intruder but he prefers to “hide” right behind the feeder and ambush interlopers! There is a period around 08:00 when the sun comes through the feeder striking him as he hovers in wait and creates a really cool light on this devilish little guy.

He will just hover there in place behind the feeder which is great for photography. The Z 9 in Auto Area AF animal eye-detect locks on faster than I can see it appear in the viewfinder. The 20fps burst catches a whole lot more hummer photos than the “empty” images I was use to. At times, the little Rufous will perch on the chain holding the feeder in wait. It occasionally will drink itself, but for the first hours of daylight, it’s full on guard duty. Then there are the times he hides hovering right alongside the Z400f4.5 to the right. Trying to figure out how to get that photo. He’s quite the character. We don’t have a name for him yet (but thinking Sly) but he sure has filled the void of the nesting House Wrens which now travel about The Ranch in a pack of seven.

I hope you’ve having the opportunity to photograph hummers this summer! These photos are using the KISS method, just using sunlight. If you need to use flash which I typically do, remember I posted this video that goes through my entire rig. Though the rig has now changed, all the basics are the same. Well, back out to my new little friend. He’s such a character but yeah, not so innocent!

Rain is a part of our experience outdoors photographing critters. Often though, we either run from it or curse it. It’s not very often we embrace it let alone try to tell its side of the story. In Alaska, rain is part of the summer which is why in part it is so green. The critters there including the Kodiak Brown Bear go about their day rain or shine like normal. On this particular afternoon, I wanted the gloppy Alaska rain to be as much of the story as the bears. There are two challenges with this goal, both are technically. Keeping the gear “dry” while showing the rain in the photograph. Both are actually easily once you think it through.

As for the gear, my rule of thumb is, if I can stand the rain, so can my gear. The Z 9 / 800f5.6AFS are old hands at working in the rain. You just need to “blot” your gear dry to keep water from pooling. The gear is not hiding under the towel or some cover, it’s hanging out there just like me. You blot with a clean, dry, white towel so as to not force any moisture in places it shouldn’t go. And in showing the rain, it’s a highlight so making it appear, you need something dark behind it. Then depending on the size of the rain drops and how fast its falling, you dial in the shutter speed for the “blur” you want and that makes it appear in the photograph. And with that, you photograph a rainy day in the Kodiak Brown Bear world. It’s all about capturing the rain.

While we were gone over the weekend, the kids fledged and the nest box was emptied. As quickly and mysteriously as he appeared, they had all left. The quiet about The Ranch is deafening, neither Sharon nor I realized how much we came to depend on that little House Wrens company the past month! Always amazing how quickly one can get attached to a critter!

I knew time was getting close to the kids leaving home. I spent every single moment I could the last week out enjoying their antics and behind the lens photographing all the activity. Mom & Dad would from sun up to sun down bring in bugs to the box. Don’t know how many kids were in there but the book says it can be up to ten! Even during one of the afternoon down pours when we had nickle sized hail, there they were hauling food to that box. I always knew when it was the male coming in. He would land and flutter his wings (like you see in the video at the top of the website) which I always thought of as excitement of being a dad (there is a biological reason though). And he was always the gentleman, letting the mom go in the hole and feed the kids first, him waiting on the perch with the withering bug in his bill. And they brought in every bug they could find! You’ll see a few examples in the slideshow below.

I would prefocus on the perch on a section I thought he would land on by the direction I saw him approach. I had to acquire them quickly in the viewfinder as they would only perch for a heartbeat prior to going in the box. The speed of the Z 9 AF Firmware 2.1 was greatly appreciated! I was just standing there, out in the open behind the Z 9 / 800f5.6 AFS, I wasn’t hiding and he knew quite well it was me. Working in good light was a challenge the last few days. Though good light was on him, I was standing in the full, hot sun. I was wearing my wide brim hat to hide from the sun which he did not like and he told me so. I know that because he gave me the same scolding he gave the Western Bluebird when it came and landed on his perch to investigate the activity at the box. I was bad and took the hat off. It made him happy.

To get a bigger image size, I needed to get closer physically so I attached a extension tube permitting me to move fourteen inches closer and increase the image size by about 18 %. That was about as comfortable as the male was to me though Maggie would often lay down below the nest box while I was shooting and that didn’t phase either adult. On my last shoot as it turned out at the box, I finally started to hear the chirps of the nestlings and I knew I wouldn’t see them fledge as we were leaving the next morning. At the same time, the activity of the parents was at a fevered pitch bringing in bugs it seemed every couple of minutes. One of the last shots I got is the one above, the male perched on the pine behind the box in the morning sun. For once, he sat darn still and for him, a long time in one place, perhaps forty to fifty seconds. It was like he knew, it would be our last time.

We got back to The Ranch a couple days later and as we pulled in, I saw a House Wren out front and I knew they had fledged. When I open the door to the truck, I heard what had become that oh so familiar and heart warming call and then, it was gone. Chores around The Ranch the past couple of days have not been quite the same without his company, it’s pretty quiet. Then, when I sat down to write this post, outside my office window I heard my friend. He was perched in the aspen outside my window, looking in and singing. Then off he flew after the family heading out. What a great spring! Loved every moment except at the end. Can’t wait until next spring to see if the story continues!