Month: July 2020

In Sacramento County where I live, setting off legal fireworks is allowed only from June 28 through July 4. There was no sleeping in my neighborhood last night. Everyone was using up all of the fireworks in their possession. Not that the fireworks being detonated were legal let alone safe and sane. Safe and Sane fireworks don’t leave the ground. And I don’t think they make the thundering booms that were setting off my neighbors’ car alarms right and left. I photographed these fireworks from my sidewalk and they were detonated around the block or even further away and they certainly left the ground or I would never have seen them as they rose high above the two story homes across the street. After I started hearing the loud booms and Bobo retreated trembling to her cage, I went out to test my Nikon D6 with the MIOPS Lightning Trigger which I plan to use in a couple of weeks when I go to Arizona. Fireworks make a good substitute for lightning. The D6 and the MIOPS performed perfectly. Since I couldn’t see where the fireworks were coming from, I had to guess where the next display might be. I got it right about a half dozen times. It’s sort of the same with lightning. You have to guess where it’s going to strike. This shot is a composite of three of the images I took in my neighborhood.

In a week I’ll be heading back to Madera Canyon, Arizona to photograph hummingbirds so I’ve been reviewing the photographs I took there last year. We spent a day at The Nature Conservancy’s Patagonia Sonoita Preserve last year and most of the 1000 plus photographs I took that day were of this very cooperative Violet-crowned Hummingbird. For most of the day he was perched on one of the several decorative rusty iron perches where he seemed to be quite comfortable. This is one of the very few (fewer than a dozen) shots I took of him on a natural perch. Sadly, this year the Nature Conservancy’s Patagonia Sonoita Preserve is closed until further notice, another casualty of the pandemic. Hopefully I’ll see some Violet-crowned Hummers in Madera Canyon.

My efforts to make my backyard more inviting to my feathered friends is paying off. Thursday, my new feeders arrived, one, a sock feeder for nyger seed that Goldfinches love, and a second for sunflower seeds that is safe from squirrels. I hung them on a double shepherd’s hook next to each other. The Lesser Goldfinches found the feeders immediately and perched on top of one of the hooks, as if trying to decide which one to try first.

The Lesser Goldfinches have dominated the fountains in my backyard for the past couple of days. Even the gregarious Bushtits have not been as evident as the Lesser Goldfinches. They seem to be more acclimated to my presence and do not immediately leave the area when I walk outside with my Nikon D6 and Nikkor 500MM PF.

The changes to my backyard intended to increase my opportunities to photograph the hummers seem to be working. The addition of enticing flowers, more nectar feeders, and perches keeps the hummers from disappearing into the shrubs. Yesterday morning, this male Anna’s with his glowing gorget, perched closer than usual and in the open, keeping an eye on the new feeders and new flowers.