Today's Photo

Today I hauled out the big lens and managed to prop it up on the table on the back deck.  I wasn't looking for any subject in particular, but I did want to get a nice photo of the finches that have been frequenting our feeders.  For  those who want to know,  they seem to favour the sunflower seed and the shelled (no mess) feed I keep in the REV 15 feeders.  The nyjer seed feeder is second or even third on the finches' list of preferred dishes.  After maybe 10 minutes, I got bored watching the grosbeaks hogging the feeders, so I grabbed a handful of peanuts and put them on the top of a post.  Within seconds, and out of nowhere, Stellar Jays appeared.  I think I might have grabbed about 10 handfuls of peanuts, for the Jays, and yes, even a few of the squirrels,  (for those who don't  know me, and my squirrel 'issue' watch for the Squirrel Blog)  before I started bringing out bowls of peanuts.   The Jays prefer them to be cracked, but will gladly take any of them, and hide them in the trees.  I had approximately 10 - 12 of them coming in.  For the record, the cats were out in force, all 5 of them.  Chattering at the jays as they swooped down to get the nuts.  One cat was on the prowl on the grass, but she (K2) seemed more interested in stalking and chasing squirrels (good girl).  

After maybe an hour, I heard the unmistakable sound of a Hummingbird Flyby.  This is rare, since I usually can't hear them.  Denise has to warn me about their presence usually.  BUT NOT TODAY.  One came by and had a drink from a couple of the feeders then stopped on the clothesline for three pictures.  In an instant, it was gone.  I would have liked to have taken a few pics of it at the feeder but the feeder was too close for the lens.   A 600mm lens has a minimum distance to its subject of about 18 ft.  The first two feeders (apparently this guy's favorites) were within that distance.  If you are wondering how I got the background to be all black, that is because I was using a high ISO, high fstop and a slower speed.  I did have it on a tripod, and used a flash with my X-Tender on it.  If you take a really close look at the eye of the bird, you can see the flash.