FreeLists / va-richmond-general / [va-richmond-general] Late Hummingbird

["Naseem Reza" <nreza@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bird Lovers:

Yesterday at about 5 p.m. I was looking at the activity at the bird feeder when 
suddenly a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird appeared at the nearby Camellia 
shrubs and proceeded to visit each of the pink flowers in bloom. I was so 
dumfounded by this visit that I proceeded to watch her for a good 30 seconds 
before realizing that a Hummer with snow in the background would  make an 
interesting picture. So off to another room to get the digital Fuji S3000 
camera out of its case, turned it on (it takes a while before it is ready for 
action), ran back to the window  and the hummer was still there. I managed to 
squeeze one quick shot with the hummer in dead center of the focus ring before 
she flew off to the woods. I have been watching for her return but hopefully 
she is on her way to the Yucatan Peninsula.

The attached photo is the  one shot I got off but alas the bane of digital 
point and shoot cameras, shutter lag, got the best of me. The 4/10 second lag 
resulted in a photo of the camellia without the bird.

Maybe some of you more experienced birders see hummers in the snow routinely,  
but it made a lasting impression on me. To avoid a repeat photographic 
incident, I have contacted Santa in earnest for a digital camera with minimal 
shutter lag (read DSLR) and just in case Santa is overbooked, I am copying my 
wife.

For those of you who are plant lovers too, the camellia in bloom is called 
Winter's Star. It is classified as a very cold hardy camellia (up to zone 6) 
and it is a hybrid of Camellia oleifera and Camellia sasanqua.

 

Naseem Reza

Attachment: Camellia sans Hummer.JPG
Description: JPEG image