Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/01/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]This winter the hummers around the house are very busy - especially because they have a nest in the orange tree only a few meters away. (I'm trying to shift to metric.) Today I was sitting on the deck trying to do something artistic with frost-damaged bougainvillea blossoms, the Leica 100 APO mounted on the 1Ds, when this little guy came to feed. The images are heavily cropped - in fact they are 100% pixel for pixel. I may have over-sharpened the first one. I am not good at bird identification, however I think these are broad-tailed hummingbirds. I'm really sharing them because I love the green iridescence on their backs. When the male sits on the tree and turns his head there's a bright flash of red as the light catches his feathers just right. In the morning, when I go out to pick the morning's grapefruit, the male sits on a branch deep within the tree and scolds me. Somewhere, up near the top, I'm certain there is a nest with young. I can hear activity and the vocalizations of the birds. I can't see the nest and I won't challenge the birds any more than I have to. <http://www.adambridge.com/Photos/2006/01/04/_L3U8281.jpg> <http://www.adambridge.com/Photos/2006/01/04/_L3U8282.jpg> I've been shooting with the 560 and the 280 as well but these are the sharpest by far. Comments welcome. And if I'm wrong about the identification I'd be pleased to be corrected. Thanks! Adam