Friday Hummingbirds

Here are a few photos of our backyard hummingbirds from Firday, April 29.  We have several pairs of both the Anna's and the Rufous hummingbirds coming in to the feeders, and it's becoming a challenge to keep the feeders full; it's been a relatively cold spring, and very few native flowers have blossomed yet, so food is a bit scarce for these little guys.

Female Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus), Gabriola, BC

Female Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus), Gabriola, BC

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna), Gabriola, BC

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna), Gabriola, BC

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna), Gabriola, BC

Female Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna), Gabriola, BC

Hummingbirds - Spring 2022

Spring has arrived in the Gulf Islands, and the colourful Rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) have arrived to join our over-wintering Annas's hummingbirds (Calypte anna).

I have been trying out the new Olympus M.Zuiko 150-400mm f4.5 + 1.25 TC lens mounted on an E-M1x body alongside the excellent Sony A1 with the FE 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 zoom.  It would be a more fair comparison if I had the new OM-1 camera for the comparison, but they are still impossible to find in Canada.

Here are a few photos from the past couple of weeks:

Rufous Hummingbird, Olympus E-M1X and 150-400mm f4.5, 500mm @ f5.6

Rufous Hummingbird, Olympus E-M1X and 150-400mm f4.5, 500mm @ f5.6

Rufous Hummingbird, Olympus E-M1X and 150-400mm f4.5, 500mm @ f5.6

Rufous Hummingbird, Olympus E-M1X and 150-400mm f4.5, 400mm @ f4.5

Anna's Hummingbird, Olympus E-M1X and 150-400mm f4.5, 400mm @ f4.5

Rufous Hummingbird, Sony A1 and 200-600mm f5.6-6.3, 600mm @ f7.1

So far, I would give the Olympus lens a slight edge in speed, sharpness and close focusing ability, while the Sony A1's bird eye AF is superior to that of the Olympus E-M1X.  I'm hoping the OM-1 will match the A1 in that department.

Rufous Hummingbirds

Our migratory Rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) have recently arrived for the summer, and are grudgingly sharing the feeders with the resident Anna's hummingbirds.  I managed to capture some nice photos this week with the new (to me) Olympus M.Zuiko 100-400mm f5-6.3 IS lens on my Olympus and Panasonic mirrorless cameras.

Female Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus)

Female Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus)

Female Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus)

Rufous Hummingbirds

We recently bought a hummingbird feeder, and received another as a house-warming gift (thanks, Connie!) and we put them up over the weekend.  Within a few hours, we had several little feathered friends hanging around the front garden.