Tag Archive | Anna’s Hummingbird

Get it while you can

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A beautiful male Woodlouse Hunter, Dysdera crocata. I am pretty sure we encountered the same one last year under the same log.

Things are busy right now, as I am trying to arrange to defend my thesis, finishing up writing tasks and seeking a postdoc….But spring is still springing, and outside is so beautiful and warm! Hell, I could be dead tomorrow, so why not go out and see what I can see in the sunshine. Here are a few of the pictures from the past few days, as the warm spring sunshine activates the local fauna!

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A Giant House Spider, in her house under a rock.

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First (live) Polistes of the year from Victoria.

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A male Anna’s Hummingbird, from Mt. Tolmie.

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Off-colour commentary by a gull?

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I stopped down to f18 to try to get some mountains behind this gull.

 

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A Nomada parasitic bee, on the lookout for hosts.

 

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This seems to be a good year for garter snakes.

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These gall wasps were having an ovipositionathon on the newly sprouting Garry Oak leaves. I think these are the jumping gall wasp, Neuroterus saltatorius. 

 

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This is the defensive posture, but it almost looks like he is casting a spell (or he has root hairs stuck in his claws).

 

Portrait session with a hummingbird

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Yesterday my brother and I got up to the airport to see if we could shoot some planes with his new (to him) 300 mm f4. We ended up photographing a much smaller bird: an Anna’s Hummingbird male! This little guy was pretty cooperative, as he was just perched on his favourite territorial lookout, so we had some good opportunity to mess around. Almost all these shots were taken in the shade of a cedar, so the light was not too dramatic, but nonetheless it was fun!

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Very rarely, the little guy went into a sunny spot. The full glare of his gorget was a bit too much, so here it is only partially shining.

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