Posted by Tonia Graves on June 10, 2012 at 5:34 PM
Nikon D5100 w/ 200-400VR + TC14e
ISO400, F8, 1/640 sec.
RAW image processed in PSE10; no crop
Location: Tucson, AZ - Catalina State Park
I posted this image earlier in the Avian gallery and got no bites, so I will try here as well. While out hiking the other day I found this hummingbird on the nest. It was right about at eye level in a somewhat open area. I took a few images and left the bird alone. Not sure if I broke some type of wildlife-viewing protocol here, and you can certainly let me know if I did! Comments & critiques are welcome!
Female hummingbirds are very difficult, and more so when seen in a single photograph. Around Tucson I'd expect the most common nesting species to be Anna's and Black-chinned. You can get a better idea for what nests locally from one of the two excellent bird-finding guides to southeast Arizona: the ABA/Lane's guide might even show the likely species by elevation. You can get either (or both) at the bookstore of the Tucson Audubon Society, along with a couple of field guides devoted only to hummingbirds.
Tonia, if they still have thier hummingbird aviary go out to the Desert Museum and check out the hummers there. They did have nice ID graphics and you could see the actual birds. But, it has been some years since I was there.
Posted by Tonia Graves on June 11, 2012 at 12:33 AM
Thank you Richard & John, I will look into it a little further! A few months back I did have an opportunity to go into the hummingbird exibit at the Desert Museaum. It was part of a program where you can go before normal operating hours and the keepers will walk you through the area, answer questions, and then allow you to feed the hummingbirds fruit flies. It was a lot of fun and provided some good photo ops!
Posted by Nick Baldwin on June 11, 2012 at 10:07 AM
As for the ethics part Tonia, as long as you didn't break of branches and otherwise "disturb" the nest, merely saw it while walking, you didn't do anything untoward.
The rules are for those who want a photo at all costs and think nothing about moving the whole area or cutting branches or getting on a ladder etc.
While walking on a beach, recently narrowed considerably by the county putting huge bolders into the surf, supposedly to protect erosion, we found ourselves being entertained by a Wilson's Plover doing her broken wing thing, right in front of us.
This was not a posted area, in fact her nest was in the wrack line leaving birders no more than 10-15 feet of walking space and she came into that.
We watched and shot her and when she returned to her nest we sort of single file made it buy. We we disturbing her-well by our presense yes-but we certainly didn't intend to do so and we pulled back and let her relax and resumed out trip and took extra care on our way back. So technically yes we were but with no intent and as it was a "shared" area of beach by virtue of the counties' work we really had no choice. Certainly could not climb on the huge boulders nor get to the surf on other side to wade.
Posted by Tonia Graves on June 11, 2012 at 11:04 AM
Nick, Thanks for sharing your experience and views! Nice pic btw too! I didn't do anything to disturb the nest, but I was suprised that it was photo-accessible on 2 sides with no branches obscuring the view.
Discussion
5 repliesISO400, F8, 1/640 sec.
RAW image processed in PSE10; no crop
Location: Tucson, AZ - Catalina State Park
I posted this image earlier in the Avian gallery and got no bites, so I will try here as well. While out hiking the other day I found this hummingbird on the nest. It was right about at eye level in a somewhat open area. I took a few images and left the bird alone. Not sure if I broke some type of wildlife-viewing protocol here, and you can certainly let me know if I did! Comments & critiques are welcome!
The rules are for those who want a photo at all costs and think nothing about moving the whole area or cutting branches or getting on a ladder etc.
While walking on a beach, recently narrowed considerably by the county putting huge bolders into the surf, supposedly to protect erosion, we found ourselves being entertained by a Wilson's Plover doing her broken wing thing, right in front of us.
This was not a posted area, in fact her nest was in the wrack line leaving birders no more than 10-15 feet of walking space and she came into that.
We watched and shot her and when she returned to her nest we sort of single file made it buy. We we disturbing her-well by our presense yes-but we certainly didn't intend to do so and we pulled back and let her relax and resumed out trip and took extra care on our way back. So technically yes we were but with no intent and as it was a "shared" area of beach by virtue of the counties' work we really had no choice. Certainly could not climb on the huge boulders nor get to the surf on other side to wade.