Portrait of a Young Turk

I wasn't going to post another hummingbird today... really, I wasn't.  But then the camera seemed to aim itself and everywhere I looked there were hummingbirds.  It seems like a few more adult males have arrived, probably preparing for their migration.  Meanwhile, this young lad is sporting his first red feather and a big attitude!

I am loving the lens ... but then, that won't come as any surprise to most of you.  Today I have been using it with the 1.7 teleconverter and I'm very happy with the results.  This image is cropped a bit, but the sharpness is still amazingly good.  Details, for those interested... 1/800, F/6.7, ISO 800, handheld using the D600 camera body.  

I posted four other shots that I am partial to, all but the fourth with the same lens/camera/TC combo, starting HERE on Flickr - and not all hummers, for a change!  The fourth shot was taken with the 105 lens and the 1.7 TC.  At the very least, I may see a teleconverter in my near future...

Hubs and I are off to the dentist this afternoon.  Then dinner on the deck, hopefully.  I say hopefully because one of the bears was out poking around near the deck a while ago.  I yelled at it and flailed my arms around like a banshee and it finally trotted off into the woods.  I immediately took in the suet feeder, of course.  

My neighbors hired someone to trim their shrubs today and shortly after, they came over in a panic because there was a bird nest in the newly shorn shrub.  The landscapers had carefully covered the nest up - to the point that the frantic parents couldn't get in to feed their babies.  I went over and partially uncovered the nest and a short while later I saw one of the parents standing guard - hopefully the babies will be fine.  There were four in the nest, all still featherless and blind but with big gaping beaks, demanding to be fed - American Robins, adorable.  I feel that I've done my good deed for the day.  And, yes, I'm sure I'll get back over there to take some pictures, assuming the nest remains undisturbed.

I've got all the birds on standby for the arrival late tomorrow of N aturelover and Hillyblips - it promises to be a very fun weekend!

Cheers.

PS - late breaking news...I was showing Hubs Her Hindness (the HUGE Yellow Garden Spider) and he said - "oh, is that a baby?"  Turns out that the miniscule spider with her is her mate - OMG.  If you aren't totally wigged out by spiders, this is worth a LOOK