Hummingbirds like to drink from the four feeders at Bev Butt’s home on Blackwater Road.
Bev says she read that hummingbirds like sit on things after they’ve had their fill of the sugary water
“So I put little bird houses out on the back porch. I made a little swing with a hanger and then I put the little teapot out and sure enough after the hummingbirds would feed, they would sit on these different things.
“They would just sit around, so I took a few pictures on the swing and the different little bird houses.”
Then she took a photo of a Calliope hummingbird sitting elegantly on a wire teapot decoration with the green background of the grass.
“I thought it was pretty interesting so I enter that one.”
She entered it in the BC SPCA’s 2017 Wildlife-In-Focus photography contest in the Backyard Habitats category.
“It was pretty exciting. I’m retired, so one of my hobbies is wildlife photography. I love doing wildlife pictures.”
In 2016, Bev says she read about this photography competition for the SPCA.
“I thought that was kind of neat because I think the SPCA is doing such a good job.”
She adds there is a $5 donation fee for every submission a photographer sends in, “so it’s a win/win situation.”
“I think they got about $16,000. When people vote for different pictures, they also make a donation.”
Bev explains there is a People Choice award for the one that gets the most votes. There’s also the judge’s choice, she says, adding she was second in the judge’s choice.
She notes there are quite few hummingbirds who drop by for a drink in the summer and then they sit around.
“I usually buy one of those big bags of sugar at the beginning of summer, and by the end of summer, it’s gone.”
Bev notes the hummingbirds don’t fight over the feeders, except for the Rufus “because they’re very aggressive.”
“I would have this little Rufus guy sit on one of these things, and when another hummingbird would go over to one of the feeders, he would fly and buzz them.”
Now that she has this award, Bev says she would like to get a nice photo of a moose to enter.
“I’m lucky here because my property backs onto the Claymine Trails, which is where all the herons nest, but they fly over to Bouchie Lake to feed.
“They fly right over my house and sometimes the babies fall out of the nest.
“I have a few good pictures of herons, but I would like to get a nice one of a moose.”
For placing second, Bev got a subscription to Outdoor Photography Canada magazine and “a goodie box full of gourmet chocolates and stuff like that.”
Participants competed in two categories: Backyard Habitats, to highlight people’s special relationship with wild animals in their backyards, and Wild Settings, images that feature animals in their natural habitats, says BC SPCA chief scientific officer Dr. Sara Dubois.
First prize winners in both judged categories will be featured in the Spring 2018 AnimalSense magazine and the top 3 in each category received great prizes.
Check out the winners online at spca.bc.ca/wildlife-in-focus to view the incredible photos captured by amateur photographers across British Columbia.