Wednesday Wings - Finally!

"Uplift!" - Rufous Hummingbird

Time flies;-) I will be a better blogger, I will be a better blogger... I do have some new photos to share of an old subject for me - hummingbirds! We finally have enough hummingbirds coming to our feeders here that I've been able to start photographing them again. Good thing, because I am seriously out of practice. We have Black-chinneds and Rufous here. The Rufous have just started coming through (and upsetting everyone because they really are the feistiest), while the Black-chinneds were the first to arrive after our feeders went up. Maybe it's the out of practice thing, but to me, they both seem to be faster than the Anna's. We had some Black-chinneds and a few Rufous in Cali, but I rarely caught them with my camera. So, I'm determined to get them now. I really want the Bc's full throat flash - that purple is my favorite color! In the meantime, here are some shots from the past week, and I hope you enjoy them:-) I'm so happy to have my favorite subject back!

"Tough Guy"

"Ready to Rumble!" - Rufous vs. Black-chinned (they never quit fighting!)

"Incoming!" - male Black-chinned, see that purple?!

"Hover" - female Black-chinned

"Attack Mode!" - one very feisty Rufous!

Unique Photo of the Day!

This morning I heard a bird outside, realized it was close, so grabbed my camera as I got up to look. It was a Flicker. It was out where the hawk was the other day, but flew away as I was focusing through the window. As I started to put the camera down, I saw this little hummingbird approaching the feeder. I was trying to adjust my settings, because this spot was much brighter than where the Flicker had been, but just went ahead and took the photo for fun.

I thought the results were kind of cool! I believe this little guy is going for the drops on the underside that you can see. Last year, we had a pair of Hooded Orioles show up at our feeders, so I started leaving 2 holes open on this feeder. It drips some from those holes. The reasons that they're still uncovered are not only because we're hoping the Orioles return, but also because we've discovered that the hummingbirds with the deformed beaks can drink more easily from them. Sadly, we do still see a lot of sick hummingbirds, and it's a topic I need to delve into more. I've never seen this anywhere else, and it's heartbreaking. I was going to link the photos that are elsewhere on this blog, but don't want to make this a sad post.

For now, we'll celebrate the healthy hummingbirds - I believe that more are starting to come around again, yay!

Nothing much to say tonight,
So I guess I’ll write a poem.
The words are staying out of sight –
This will be no lengthy tome.

What to say, what to say?
My mind has drawn a blank.
I have nothing to convey,
Yet don’t want my blog to tank!

So forgive me for now,
And please come again.
I promise to add some “wow”
On this blog I must maintain!

Hummingbirds!

I feel like choosing a happy, light topic tonight. When I thought about something that makes me truly happy, I immediately thought of hummingbirds! That’s right, zooming, spinning, hovering hummingbirds:-) These little jewels have always been a joyful sight to me; and this year, they’ve truly become part of my heart.

This year, I finally decided to learn to photograph them. I figured if I could catch a hummingbird with my lens, I would be better prepared for just about anything else that moves, lol! I swear, even after multiple sessions, and more photos than I can count, I still get dizzy trying to track these little speedsters.


Hummingbirds are just so amazing! Full-speed forward, now backwards, up, down, all around – let me tell you, you get a lot of photos of empty blue sky as you try to catch them. Or part of a wing, as the bird zooms out of range… They are truly breath-taking.


Here in central California, the hummingbirds I saw this year were either Rufous or Anna’s. Anna’s have made up the majority, and are still coming to the one feeder I’ve left up. I’ve read that they can stay year-round, but it’s getting chillier at night here, so we’ll see. I’ll be happy to keep that feeder filled:-)


What Hummingbirds mean:

Several years ago, I discovered a really cool site about Animal Shamanism. It guides you as to what animals mean in your life. The animal can be a lifetime animal, or one that appears for a certain time with a needed message. You can check it out here Shamanism Working with Animal Spirits It’s a really cool site, and just one more way of seeing things.

So, three of the things that hummingbirds represent are joy, love, and endurance over long journeys (makes sense;-). Maybe that’s why they touch me so. They certainly fill me with joy – even when they’re being feisty and territorial with each other.

Hummingbirds live life with exuberance! They are so tiny, and yet so powerful. And, hey, they eat sugar water and nectar. Life can’t get much sweeter than that:-)


All photos taken with my Canon Digital Rebel XT, and either a regular Canon 75-300mm lens or 55-250mm IS lens (the 75-300mm is for sale, if anyone’s interested:-).

All of these photos are available at our Etsy store Nature Visions