Female Downy Woodpecker at a flowering Japanese Cherry, March 2013.
And another view of the female Downy Woodpecker at a Cherry Blossom bloom.
Quite a few birds were attracted to the pollen and insects in the South Coast Botanic Garden's blooming Japanese Cherry Blossom trees on Saturday, March 9, 2013. Here's a female Downy Woodpecker investigating...
Female Allen's Hummingbird in a blooming Japanese Cherry Blossom tree, South Coast Botanic Garden, Palos Verdes, March 9 2013.
Female Allen's Hummingbird in a blooming Japanese Cherry Blossom Tree, March 9 2013.
Female Summer Tanager, Fisher Point across from Covington Park, January 20 2013.
And here's Mrs Vermilion at Covington Park, not as dazzling as the male but just as beautiful, March 3 2012.
A Female Great-tailed Grackle. I'm not a big fan of these birds, so it was appropriate that I'd catch it in a settting of concrete and rebar. :o)
This and the following 2 shots are once again sequential using the FZ30's high burst mode. The red dot made tracking a cinch, and the focus stayed "locked on" throughout. The camera settings that seem to work best for me are a high shutter speed of around 1/1000 sec, f4.0 depending on the sunlight (these were taken in late afternoon),and High-Speed 3-area focusing where the camera focuses on any 3 areas in a straight line across the viewfinder. I try to verify that the bird is "locked in" at the beginning to ensure continued sharp focus throughout the sequence.
Female Downy Woodpecker at a flowering Japanese Cherry, March 2013.
Female Downy Woodpecker at a flowering Japanese Cherry, March 2013.
Female Downy Woodpecker at a flowering Japanese Cherry, March 2013.
See photo in original gallery.