Meryl Lorenzo of Bayville, New York, won second place in our 2021 Backyard and City Birds Photo Contest with this photo of a hungry hummingbird. The photo’s sharp, detailed look at the moment a tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird preyed on a much smaller insect caught our judges’ attention.
“This photo was taken in my backyard,” Lorenzo explains. “We have 12 feeders, a few suet feeders, and two hummingbird feeders. We also have three birdbaths — one of them heated during the winter months. After Hurricane Sandy destroyed my garden, I replanted with plants the hummingbirds would like. Unfortunately, some trees shade the flowers at certain times of the day, so I must be patient for the hummingbird and the sunshine to be in the right spot at the right time. The timing was perfect for this shot. I didn’t realize the bird was after this bug until I saw it on the computer.”
Lorenzo used a Nikon D500 camera with a 300mm f4 lens. Settings were f/4, 1/1600s, and ISO 2000. The photo was taken in August 2021. You can see more of Meryl’s photos on Instagram.
Many thanks to our panel of guest judges: author, radio host, and Contributing Editor Laura Erickson; our former editor Chuck Hagner, the director of Bird City Wisconsin; our former photo editor Ernie Mastroianni; Outdoor Photographer Editor Wes Pitts; and Imaging Resource Managing Editor William Brawley.
View the first-place winner: Blue Jays
View the third-place winner: Carolina Wrens
Enter our 2022 Birds in Flight Contest
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