Garden birds

What an amazing capture. The photographer has timed the exposure perfectly to capture the notoriously fast hummingbird, as well as freeze the tiny water droplets as it chases them. The scene works well against the plain background, and there is some nice detail in the bird's feathers.

Robins were a popular subject in this month's challenge and your image is a delightful example. Your choice of aperture and focus point means you've captured an impressive amount of fine detail in the feathers yet the background is blurred so that it doesn't distract. The reflection adds another element of interest that elevates the image. Great shot.

At first, this seems a very simple shot but there are real skill and technique on show. For example, you've been able to isolate the bird on a single twig. Also, the background has a few out of focus highlights behind it which help pull your eye into the frame and contribute to making this a very attractive bird portrait.

If ever an image deserved to be on a greeting card, it's this one. We love the ultra close-up view, and the fine details we can see in the robin's feathers. The snow adds plenty of atmosphere and also helps provide a nice plain background that makes the robin stand out.

A chaffinch is often one of the most colourful birds that we see in a garden in the UK, but here it seems quite muted amongst the vibrant blossom. We love your framing and use of the blossom and branch to draw the eye into the subject.

This bird reminds me of Professor Yaffle in Bagpuss (it's an old TV show for kids). You've captured this scene at the perfect moment with both the parent and the baby bird having a berry in their beaks. Your choice of aperture has also delivered the ideal amount of depth of field so there's plenty of detail in the birds but the stand out well from the blurred background. Capturing this image probably called for lots of careful preparation and patience, which have been rewarded.

While the fast focusing of a camera such as the Sony A9 II that you use here helps, getting a sharp frame-filling shot of a bird in flight is not easy. Shooting at 1/400sec means you have a little blur in the wings, which gives a sense of motion, and the most important part of the bird is sharp.

This shot must have taken quite a bit of planning and patience. We're impressed that you were able to get both the baby birds and the parent's head sharp. Your shot is also perfectly timed, this will have been a fleeting moment, but you have the parent just coming in to feed the young. Great shot!

This image demonstrates superb technique and timing. You've shot in lovely light and the bird is facing towards it so that its face is nicely illuminated and your focus is perfect. The raised legs and splayed wings make a dynamic composition. Fabulous!

Wow. this is incredible. It looks like the bird picked the berry and then threw it in the air to catch it like someone with a peanut. We love the colours in this image and the way that the bright red berries really stand out. You can see why the bird went to them.

There's a sense of movement in the blurred reeds in the background and it reminds us of all those times you see a bird bogging about in the breeze. Perhaps that is what was happening here? It's a well-spotted and nicely executed image.

Thanks to the huge amount of detail in the bird's feathers, the stark white background and your carefully-considered composition, this image really stands out from the crowd. You've made an often overlooked bird attractive and interesting. Your focusing is also spot-on.

We saw a lot of images of birds on logs, but your focusing and choice of aperture, which limits the depth fo field to the bird's head, and the level of detail visible helped to make this shot stand out.