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

Kye Bay

Some panoramic views of Kye Bay, located just outside of Comox, BC.  The first is a composite of seven vertical images, stitched together using Adobe LightRoom software.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Low Tide at Kye Bay

This image consists of five stitched vertical images:

Kye Bay Boat Launch

This image is a single exposure, cropped to a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Kye Bay

All images were captured with a Panasonic Lumix G9 camera and Leica DG Vario-Elmar 12-60mm f2.8-4 lens.

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)

Anna's Hummingbirds (Calypte anna)

Gabriola Island saw its first snowfall of the year on Monday, which just happened to also be the first day of winter.  Our resident Anna's Hummingbirds weren't too happy, and stayed close to their feeders, which did allow for some great opportunities to photograph them without disturbing them.

The hardy little. Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) is a year-round resident in the coastal regions of southwest British Columbia, and in 2017 it was voted as the official bird of the city of Vancouver.

This little hummingbird was once found only in southern California and the Baja Peninsula. But ornithologists have documented the expansion of its range since the 1930s. Today, you’ll find it in locales as far north as British Columbia and as far east as Texas.  Anna’s Hummingbirds have been found to colonize new locations, even cold ones, based on the availability of flowery  landscaping and nectar feeders.

Anna’s can cope with our cold winter weather by entering a state of torpor.  A hummingbird in torpor can drop its body temperature from about 40°C to about 9°C and reduce its respiration rate from 245 breaths per minute to 6. It can even suspend its breathing for up to five minutes. The metabolic rate of an Anna’s during torpor can be 300 times lower than when in flight. The savings are significant; they can help a hummingbird sleep through a severe weather period.

All images were captured using an Olympus OM-D E-M1X camera with the M.Zuiko Digital 40-150mm f2.8 and 300mm f4 IS Pro lenses.

Female Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) in Snow

Female Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) 

Female Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) in Snow

Female Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) in Snow

Female Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) in Snow

Female Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) in Snow

Female Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) in Snow

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Bird Photography with Olympus

Olympus recently released a firmware update for their OM-D E-M1X cameras, which added AI-based bird recognition and tracking to the camera's autofocus system.  After hearing that news, I purchased an E-M1X body along with an M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm f4 IS lens to see how it would cope with our small backyard birds.  As you can see from the images below, the camera did quite well despite the poor light conditions.

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)

Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)

Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)

Drumbeg Provincial Park, Gabriola Island

Some images from Drumbeg Provincial Park on Gabriola Island.  These photos were taken on September 7, 2020, just before the heavy smoke from the US wildfires arrived in southern British Columbia.

Shoreline, Drumbeg Provincial Park

Driftwood, Drumbeg Provincial Park

Sailboats, Gabriola Passage

Sailboats, Salish Sea