Quite The Ruby Throat...

Here's the male hummingbird grabbing a quick snack while the female isn't around, it's easy to see how they got their name. The feeder was empty the other day so I brought it in to fill it. When I brought it back out the male was hovering around looking for it. When it spotted me it came over and landed on the feeder and started drinking while I was still holding it. It was quite something to see a hummer that close.

She's a Meany....

A couple of weeks ago I noticed a hummingbird by my red tulips so I decided to put out a feeder to see if it would come to it. Within a couple of days I had a male and a female visiting. I took this photo over the weekend and it's the first time in my life I've ever tried to photograph a hummingbird. This female will come and feed then go land in a tree to keep watch. As soon as the male shows up she chases him off. I'm going to experiment with high speed flash to see if I can get some shots of the wings frozen in place, although I do like the wings being blurred in this picture.

Gray Catbirds....

I took these two photos on the afternoon before the picture of the waterfall at Sabattus River. I've had gray catbirds nest in my yard before but I never got too close to them. This pair were pretty cooperative and actually landed next to me. I have no idea which is the male or which is the female.

Ferns and Flow....

I don't care how many times I go back to Sabattus River I always find something new to photograph. I actually found these ferns yesterday afternoon but the lighting was not good so I went back this morning, I knew they would be in the shade.

White Throated Sparrow...

One of the white throated sparrows hanging around my brush pile at sunset.

Yellow Daffodils....

These are three of my daffodils that I photographed on Saturday. These are the type that are very aromatic and when I step outside the air has a sweet scent.

Turtles Everywhere.....

It was an uncharacteristic 90 degrees here on Tuesday and I went kayaking on the Sabattus River again. The wildlife was really enjoyng the weather, I observed a total of 47 painted turtles

and another couple of snappers.

Grackles.....

I photographed these two guys from my kayak shortly after photographing the battling snappers. Even though it was overcast the irredesent blue feathers show up nicely. There was a whole flock of them and it was interesting watching them hunt in the grass or come to the waters edge for a birdbath.

Battling or Mating...?

I went kayaking on the Sabattus River yesterday and I encountered this pair. They were so involved with each other they let me paddle right up to them. At first I thought it was a pair mating but when I got home and looked at the photos one of them had quite a few wounds on it, including its eye gouged out. In the first picture you can make out the cuts on the neck, I actually have a close up of the gouged out eye but didn't post it. The third photo shows the impressive claws and it's easy to see how an eye would get gouged.

Rain Covered Pussywillow....

After a heavy night of rain I went out and took this photograph. As pussywillows develope they do attain a lot of color.

A Little Distraction...

I took a little break from the yardwork yesterday when this guy showed up.

Watchful Nuthatch...

This is the same nuthatch that was freaked out by the hawk that passed through a few weeks ago. I saw the hawk yesterday going after a chickadee but it wasn't successful, I'm sure it must be nesting somewhere close by. My postings will be sporatic because I've been doing a lot of yard work and haven't really taken any new photos in a while. Once that's done I'll get back into the routine.

Posing Pretty....

I took this photo in my yard right next to the bird feeder. When the chickadees come in groups there is a definite pecking order and they have their favorite perches while they wait their turn. This angled branch about two feet from the feeder is one of the favorite perches. All I had to do is point my lens at the branch and wait for a bird to land.

April Showers....

We've been getting a lot of rain lately, the sun is out right now but more rain is on the way later today. It rained Thursday night but it had stopped by Friday morning so I went out and photographed the droplet covered pussywillows. The yellowish background is actually dead grass that was on the ground. When you enlarged the photo you'll notice a squarish, bright spot on the dark area on the underside of the pussywillow. That's a reflection of my foil fill card adding light.

White Breasted Nuthatch...

Here's the best whitebreasted nuthatch photo I've gotten so far. I have a couple that come to the feeder on a regular basis but they're a lot more cautious than the red breasted.