Three recent events in our yard lead to interesting photographs
The Fox and the AC
Last week I saw a yellow “cat” curled up on our a/c unit next to a fig tree, which just happened to be the local birds’ favorite hangout. I thought of going outside to shoo the feral cat away. Wait, that is not a cat. It was a red-tailed fox. I ran for my camera, of course it had the wrong lens, so I eventually returned to find her still there and shot this photo through the screen (makes the image soft). I went to another room to get a better angle and she was gone.
The Hawk and the Squirrel
A short time ago Linda noticed a red-shouldered hawk had taken a squirrel and had his prey under an orange tree. I investigated with my camera and the four following shots reflect the events. In this shot the hawk is protecting his meal. You can see how aware he is and the blood on his beak.
In this photo the hawk waits on the fence for me to leave.
In this photo the hawk sees me and attempts to leave with the squirrel. It is too heavy and he drops it into the yard.
This is a closeup of a blue fly on the squirrel. They have an amazing ability to find dead flesh within minutes. We left the squirrel to the hawk and later that day both were gone.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Female
We have a patch of red shrimp plants next to our dining room and it is a constant attraction to hummers. I took about eighty shots of this female and had four keepers. I share two here. The first is a hummer feeding on the wing.
In this second shot the bird is sitting on the branch of a papaya plant. This unusual distortion was so fast I never saw it until I processed the photo. Linda named the photo “Hummer Gymnastics”.
The fly on the squirrel is unbelievable! How did you get that shot????
The flies on carrion tend to remain rather still and I shot 10 and picked the one with the best focus.