Well for limited chances, you have some very nice pictures! :thumbup:
They can be very nervous and just shutter noise alone can send them darting away from me. Makes them a challenge.
But the juveniles will often fly in for a closer look. I usually wind up with blur... :roll:
Maybe they see their reflection in the lens? But even without the camera they will buzz in close sometimes.

I'm just starting out with my new camera. I've had the subjects, but just mediocre means to picture them before.
This morning I was experimenting with forced flash to see what that can do.
But often I have trouble catching their flash from the males on camera, only getting it in my minds eye. But I'm learning.

Looking at others compositions is a great help and inspiration for me to tune in my own shots.

Thanks for sharing your shots! :thumbup:

So things had been very quiet and no real interesting changes.
Just Mama dove sitting on her clutch, she wasn't even knitting booties yet.
While I was gone taking care of things at the Daughters house, the wife saw the Daddy dove come to take over the "chores".
Letting Mama dove go to feed and water, get a manicure, take a shower, and whatever doves do.
This morning Daddy (spots) was still diligently sitting keeping the eggs safe and warm. He's noticeably bigger than she, and we are able to tell when he is around.
It's a bit like watching paint dry right now, or cracks in the mud widen..... :wink:

I move around the nest occasionally snapping humming bird photos, mostly in early morning. I want the doves to be relaxed with my presence for pictures of the chicks later. But for the most part they are left to their own and observed from inside the house.

Daddy Dove on Duty

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My hope right now is to get a really good telephoto lens to catch them at a better distance.
I have to get too close with what I've got.

Bird watching permits.... :hunf:
And nope, no bird houses. They are on their own to figure it out.
But they seem to come back year after year. :wink:

Those are absolutely Gorgeous!
Something I hope to aspire to.

Thanks for sharing!

Oh, and this Juvenile Allen's...

Juvenile Allen's

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I love these little friends and their antics at times.
Juveniles will swoop in at about 24" and stare in your eyes.
Males will joust over a feeder, or camp out and try to drive off any wanting to partake of "His" flowers.
And on rare occasions even courting can be observed.

I feed a bunch out here. I started about 3 years ago, and quickly had to up my game to keep up. I started with one pancake feeder and some tiny one hole feeders. Soon I was filling the 6 smaller ones (2.5 ounces) 3 times a day!
Now we have 4 - 28 ounce, feeders up, and tonight I filled 3 of them. I only touch the bigger ones when they are empty. About every other day right now. The 2 pancake feeders as needed.
Sometimes one will try and "commandeer" a whole feeder, and drive off others. One day while watching the antics, one bird would swoop by drawing off the dominating male.
While leading him on a merry chase, the other two fed until he returned. Then off he'd go after a different one, and the decoy would feed.
At times a male will dominate a feeder, but let the females feed.
Sometimes there are 10-20 sitting on the wires crossing our backyard and they will swoop down and feed or battle. But it appears to be a social feeding time, usually mornings and evenings.
If you can get the sunlight right, often toward evening here, you can see a gnat cloud and watch them dart about snapping up the gnats. While nectar is their gas, gnats are their proteins.
Even before I ever hung up a feeder I use to like sitting out watching them dart through a gnat cloud like fish attacking a bait fish ball. Good riddance!
One morning while watching them and enjoying my coffee, I saw one picking something off the timbers of the patio cover. Curious, I slowly advanced and it was eating tiny newly hatched spiders from a web. That just thrilled the wife when I told her. She hates spiders.

I've fed other wild birds here and at our old house, but the humminbirds are here to stay. Tiniest droppings of any, and they hose away easily. The other wild birds, while welcome, are not fed or encouraged to stick around. Too messy.

We have a dove nesting in a hanging basket on the patio currently. She doesn't seem to mind the hummers, or me taking care of the feeders around her.
Today her mate returned and took care of the nest so she could feed. I wasn't here, but the wife got to watch out the window. Hopefully I can photograph that very soon.

The hardest to photograph are the Allen's Hummingbirds. They seem to be a bit wilder. Dressed in tan tuxedos with a dark band, or dark heads, the males and females alike are beautiful to watch. But a bit camera shy.
The Anna's are easy and very prolific. Some have even wintered over with us and will fatten up to where they fly like bomber, instead of a spitfire.
Concerned when people told me I had to take down my feeders to force them to migrate, I found invaluable information on the San Diego Zoo website. It is perfectly fine for them to winter over if they choose to. We had 6-8 that did.

Spring migration has become chaotic. Sometimes there are birds stacked waiting to feed. Hovering waiting for a feeder flower to open. Usually it only lasts for some days, to a week.
But often they will nest in the ivy on the fence, judging by the babies and juveniles coming to the feeders during the spring and summer. The babies are 1/2 the size of the adults.

So post some of your favorites, you're invited. :D

5 in one.

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Juvenile Male

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Pretty boy flashing

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Beautiful shot! Great detail.

:thumbup:

Only if she catches me.
:wink: :lol:

Thank You very much Erv. That is very kind of you.
I will be in touch.
I did manage to get some interesting shots tonight, but I can surely see my lens inadequacies. 55-200 mm isn't pulling it in. And my tired eyes can't see the focus in the dark.
I got a white ball rising out of a tree and clouds. Interesting, especially to me.
Auto W/O flash (of course) apparently is much sharper than me fumbling along. LOL.

Well, After taking 30+ pictures tonight there are some huge areas for improvement in my back yard. :lol:
First is focus, and most important to me is that a seriously need to jump on the Tamera bandwagon, or stick with flowers. :hunf:
My kit camera is good, but I can see I need a better telephoto lens for the longer shots.
I can see I'm stuck in yet another vortex... :lol:

Great shots, Tiny Tim. :thumbup:

Thanks Erv.
I'm very new to this level of DSLR photography. Just never bit the bullet and jumped in before.
So I'm learning as I go.
Thanks again.

Beautiful shots! :thumbup: :thumbup:

Very nice, Erv.

Inspires me to get out and watch for it here.
The "Super Moon" was nice the other night. But we were driving, so the picture is only in my mind.

:thumbup:

Oh, sorry. I didn't realize. I'm new here.
I'd be more than happy to remove the post.

It appears that she didn't mind.

I'm a strong believer in manure.
Not Internet manure, but the real thing.

Several years ago I decided to do some light gardening. I made some beds in the back yard and planted a few things. Amongst them was some strawberries in a hanging basket. I mixed plenty of composted manure into the soils.
Flash forward, a Grand Daughter got the first strawberry. She was savoring it and proclaimed:
"That is the BEST Strawberry I ever ate!"
I told her "You know why? Because it was grown with Manure."
She froze... "You mean... I'm eating MANURE???" (Teenagers!)
:lol: I said "No. Because the plant was fed what it loves. And it turns its food into sugar in the fruit."
Her emergency abated (she wasn't really eating Shmanure), she returned to enjoying the strawberry.
(And her little brother loves the cherry tomaters, too.)

Nature is. Even a less than perfect specimen is still beautiful. :wink:

Try some natural Castile soap diluted and lightly sprayed to discourage pests from eating your blooms.
If it tastes bad, the bugs go to your neighbors house. :wink:
And some manure for their toes.

http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/category/PEPPERMINT.html

Happy snapping!

Even this less than perfect flower held appeal

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NOTE: Catches Female Groupers & Female Flukes in New York.

(Somebodies gonna slap me... ) :shock:

The Anatomy of a Grouper (Wikipedia)

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