During my early 2013 Baja trip, our last day was spent in Loreto, awaiting our afternoon flight back to the U.S. But that didn’t keep us from shooting nature images. We were in a lovely hotel in the middle of Loreto. Once you walked into the hotel lobby from the street, you passed the hotel desk and then entered an enclosed plaza area, with rooms around the plaza. In the middle of the plaza area were some small tables and chairs and a few trees/plants. On a branch in one of the trees was an active hummingbird nest. As we sat and watched, the female hummingbird would leave the nest and return shortly. Meanwhile, I kept shooting … from the comfort of my patio chair (ya gotta love it!). Not sure of the species, but likely a Costa’s … or possibly an Anna’s.
Here are a few images I captured at the hotel:
From inside the plazas, this was the view as I looked back towards the street area. This stairwell led to more rooms that overlooked the plaza area:
Here is the empty hummingbird nest:
Upon return to the nest, I captured a couple of images of the female hummingbird sitting on her nest:
The hummingbird nest is about the size of an English walnut half, not very large at all. And notice how camoflauged it is, secured in the fork of a tree branch. During the summer, I have tons of hummingbirds (Ruby-throated) at my home. But so far, I’ve not found a nest in the dense woods where they live. But I’m still trying! One of these days, I’ll locate one :o)
Photography Equipment Used:
- Canon 7D body
- Canon EF100mm-400mm, f/4.5 – f/5.6, IS lens
- Handheld, with IS “On”
- ISO 500
- Aperture f/5.6
- Shutter 1/200 sec. to 1/400 sec.