Its at the North Dyke, about half way down to the tower. They have some small cones in front of it. Its very hard to see though, but you will see a V shaped branch. Follow to branch to the left to see it. I know it seems like a bad description but when your there you'll understand. The nest is VERY tiny. About 2-3 inches either way. The lighting isn't that great, so if you have it bring the 400mm F2.8VR if you can. There's two baby hummingbirds there, but i didn't get a good look at them. Go there while you can! I'm going to go back during the week to check it out again.

i went to reifel and all i saw were ducks and geese!

some shots from my first trip there:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3326/...b9d7d1.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3402/...519e5a.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3626/...4a4cb9.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3341/...655035.jpg?v=0

Looks like you saw chickadees & sparrows, too! :)


Who's up for a trip to Reifel next Saturday or Sunday?

I went to Reifel today for the first time with 2 other friends. Yeah...felt so inadequate with our 200mm lenses =(.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3357/...50a3ba3c_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2158/...d9310eb0_b.jpg

I'm going to Reifel on Sunday if anyone cares to join me.

Probably not fair since this eagle was in a zoo...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3579/...cdc37781_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/...1299ac4c_o.jpg

And your whites look a bit blown out.

Jason, I hate you. (j/k)

So i got my 400mm F5.6L today! Its awesome so far! As long as you have lots of light, which we do! Here's one of the first shots i took with it. Just a bit of a crop, and a bit of exposure and contrast.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2480/...5a529df9_b.jpg

^^ You should crop it just a little bit more on the right side.
Looks pretty good :)

I now see what you mean! :) Thanks!

Just two from today. Nikon D300 + 400mm f2.8 VR.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...I/DSC_2123.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...I/DSC_2137.jpg

that's a beautiful hummer!

very nice capture senna! I love it!

K Jason, that's just sick... I'm not eve gonna post mine now lol

Just to give you guys an idea what Jason was shooting with... Here's my tiny 300mm vs Jason's 400mm F2.8 monster...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3566/...5970cfb1_b.jpg

Very nice humming bird photo's Senna, and that's quite the manly extension you have there! haha.. Super quality photo's. Amazing to see the baby hummingbirds there. I'm assuming there must of been tons of other photographers taking pictures there as well?

Here's a few from my day yesterday...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2293/...4e961eca_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/...28f6c00a_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3337/...06029726_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2453/...2e7627da_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3377/...7dc31738_b.jpg

Thanks...yeah, there were a few people there...I commandeered the spot with the cleanest view. Hehe..

Were you there yesterday too? The BIF shots are great...I can't do that with the 400mm f2.8, as it's too heavy to move quickly. The hummingbird chicks still haven't opened their eyes yet, so they may still be there next week. I'm going back there on Sunday for sure.

Thanks Senna! Nope i wasn't at Reifel yesterday. I was at this place in abby that's a Blue Heron Sanctuary. There was the most i've ever seen there. Doing fly by's, going to their nests, resting on the tree's. It was pretty awesome, and we managed to get some what i think are pretty good shots out of it. What you see here are just a few of my fav's but haven't gone through all of them just yet.

I'd like to head out to see the hummingbird nest one more time. Gotta see if i can get wednesday off. Maybe bring the 5D mkII and 400mm F5.6L out. Decent reach and high ISO handling of the 5D would be good enough for me i think. Then after get some reach with the 40D. Anymore shots of your day at Reifel?

Edit: Senna do you hand hold that setup all day?

from today. Really nice day to have off!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3628/...f84856f5_b.jpg

Oh, fuck I hate you. :p

Looks like you went quite early....excellent...the chick's eyes are still closed...they should still be there on Sunday. :)

Hopefully they should still be around on Sunday. The only thing about going on the weekend, is that there is too many people there. Today i went at like 1030am and there was me and 5 other photographers there. The weekend must be nuts!

Setup for this shot was 5d mkII + 400mm F5.6L @ F5.6 ISO 1600 to get some decent shutter speed. The light there is different every 2 minutes!

Upon further inspection, the eyes are open! *dun dun dun!*

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2474/...df065c63_b.jpg

And yes i know the mother hummingbird is out of focus.

I have more to post process, just no time.

...and fuck no. There's no way you can hand hold that monster for anything longer than a few seconds. The beauty of the 400mm f5.6 is its lightness (and sharpness).

Hopefully, the babies will still be there on Sunday. They don't quite look ready to fledge yet. Last Sunday there were only 3 of us shooting there, but yeah...word gets out quick, I guess.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...athingSwan.jpg

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/Flapping.jpg

Went to Reifel today...I was sitting by the hummingbird nest from 10am to 5pm with only a short pee break in between. 600 shots later, these are some of the ones I thought were post worthy...

"The Dance" A700 + 200mm f2.8 APO G
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...I/DSC03785.jpg

D300 + 500mm f4
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...I/DSC_2679.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...I/DSC_2751.jpg

Patiently waiting for Mommy.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...I/DSC_2973.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...I/DSC_2764.jpg

wow, what patience!

question out of the blue... i found a big bumble fuzzy bee today on the ground moving and walking around. i picked it up with a sheet of paper and it wouldn't fly away. i recall another instance where there was one in front of my house and i poked it with my finger and it still didn't fly away. i think it ended up dying later on... do you know what these are? baby bees or injured? lol