All Hummers Don't Guzzle Gas

One of our resident hummers....July 8th.
(Click picture to enlarge)

"Have you ever observed a humming-bird moving about in an aerial dance among the flowers - a living prismatic gem.... it is a creature of such fairy-like loveliness as to mock all description." ~ W.H. Hudson, Green Mansions

They appear out of nowhere, speeding by your ear and you catch the sound first; the hum of the wings against the air, louder than the bee or the dragonfly and you can't sense the direction with much accuracy. But then, they hover at the feeder or even by the petunias or lantana and there you can see them, so tiny and green, some with a splash of red. They sample our offerings... first the nectar in the flat pancake feeders, then the larger glass feeder and even sampling the birdberry jelly in the oriole feeder that the mockingbirds also love. Then as quickly as they come.. they are gone. Back into the trees in our yard, if we are lucky, or back to the forest preserve. I know they have nests there. If the sun is just right, you can see them chasing each other through the brush and high up in between the large oaks and pines.

I was trying to photograph a Cloudless Sulfur butterfly that landed on flowers off the deck. They flit so much, hardly ever landing, so I grabbed my camera and opened the sunroom door to step out. That is when I saw him there by the feeder.... I managed to get two shots off before he took off to the forest and only one was in focus, though the light could have been better. Not the best, but hopefully the hummers will be around more often... when I do have the camera ready.

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