My hummingbird feeder has become a war zone. This morning I saw a couple of hummers buzzing around the feeder and then perching on a nearby branch, each facing a different direction, craning their necks and in constant motion, as if looking for something. I watched this for a while wondering why they were acting so oddly when I saw the reason they were so nervous. Two interlopers were aggressively trying to gain access to the feeder. I know people who have feeders where many hummingbirds congregate peacefully at the same time but the hummers that come to my feeder seem to have claimed it, watch it from afar, and chase interlopers away. Today, however, was a different story. They had to fight. I watched and snapped photos for more than 15 minutes as four hummingbirds waged intense aerial warfare battling for feeder supremacy.
Because I was photographing from inside the house through dirty, double-paned windows, the focus is very soft; in addition I had a pretty slow shutter speed making camera movement more obvious but I did think to set focus to “continous” which helped a little. I had to make a few curves adjustments. I included a series of photos today just because I think they’re interesting. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to capture all four or even three in the air at once. I don’t consider any of these photos good because the focus is so soft. But I like the action shots; if I’d gone outside for clearer focus, they probably would have
called a temporary truce so I’m going with what I have.
Vigilance:
Confrontation:
Intimidation:
Lull in the Fighting:
Love your action shots (hey, you got bokeh too) and the accompanying commentary! I’ve never seen hummingbirds going at it like that- very cool!