Rufous Hummingbird – Page 3 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Nests Of A Different Sort

Headed out to Reifel this afternoon to help out on the trails. It was not overly busy for a relatively nice Sunday. The big news since my last visit,

… the Sandhill Cranes are on the nest and incubating eggs.

The first egg was laid on Friday, the second showed up today. Now the countdown begins and should be around 30 days before it’s time to start watching for chicks.

While at Reifel I got a nice tip from a fellow volunteer in regards to a nest of a different sort. A hummingbird nest in the South Arm Marshes. As it was still fairly quiet, I left a little early to check it out on my way home.

It did not take me long to find it and determine it was a Rufous Hummingbird nest.

Bonus of the day was that the young have hatched and I managed to get her feeding them.

Pre Game Walk

Time permitted a Stanley Cup Final pre game walk this afternoon. Not wanting to stray too far from home, I headed out to Reifel.

Started off with this Cooper’s Hawk in the trees along the driveway.

Then some friends who were shooting this Grosbeak on the ground,

… flushed it nicely into a tree for me to capture.

Still no shortage of new arrivals,

… with this Wood Duck family basking in the sun on this log.

There has also been a Western Wood-pewee around my last few visits.

The treat of the afternoon though was a couple of other new arrivals.

These Rufous Hummingbird fledglings were in the bushes along one of the trails.

I was hoping to capture one of them getting fed by the adult female. She would come in close above them, but then back off. My proximity to the fledglings may have been spooking her. Sometimes they don’t mind when you are around, other times it may interfere with their behaviour. You have to watch for this. In situations like this, the well being of the birds comes before the picture. So it was time for me to move on.

On checking the watch, it was time to head home for the game. Go Canucks Go!

Lazuli Bunting

When I was out in the Boundary Bay area a few days ago I lucked out with some nice shots of a Western Wood-pewee. I was also there that day, and couple of afternoons since, looking to see if something else was going to show up in the area again this year.

Yesterday my efforts payed off, the Lazuli Buntings were back. I only ever saw a single bird at any one time, but did hear at least two. Like last year, they were skittish and would fly off when approached. So I spent some time just watching and listening to where they going. To determine if there were certain spots they would return to or favoured.

On arriving this afternoon I noted one of the Lazuli Bunting in a tree I saw it go to a couple of times the day before. So when it was gone I moved in and set up. The plan being to let the bird come to me and not chase them from tree to tree.

Well the plan worked,

… the only problem being you have to take what you get.

I never quite got a clear shot. There were always some other branches in the way. Even more frustrating one time, it sat and sang out of sight on the other side of the tree for over ten minutes.

Other visitors to the tree in between Bunting visits were this American Goldfinch,

… and this Rufous Hummingbird.

At least the Lazuli Buntings are back and will be worth future visits.