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.
And here's Mrs Vermilion at Covington Park, not as dazzling as the male but just as beautiful, March 3 2012.
And here's Mrs Vermilion at Covington Park, not as dazzling as the male but just as beautiful, March 3 2012.
And here's Mrs Vermilion at Covington Park, not as dazzling as the male but just as beautiful, March 3 2012.
See photo in original gallery.