Humming right along

The previous subject, the male ruby-throated hummingbird, was really thrilling. I may never see the likes of him again. Yesterday was back to normal, the female ruby throated hummers, an avian ballet. I took some pictures of the jewelweed and then stood back to wait.
There was no wait. The female hummer was sitting right there. And good morning to you too. Let the show begin.

There are lots of other birds around. I'll be posting them as well, but for now I've got hummers on my mind, eye candy.

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The Wow Factor

There were two main questions yesterday, were trees still standing and did the hurricane winds disrupt the flow of migrating birds. There are trees down and lots of branches snapped off, but the birds are everywhere. One just has to be careful walking around because of the fallen branches and round seed pods underfoot. The day didn't start out promising. The nature walk in Wagner Cove is swamped, but not too swamped for a rat to get around. Where are hawks when they're needed!


There were lots of birds. I did see one kinglet, one black-throated blue warbler (male), on blue winged warbler, too fast for the camera. I'll post a variety of birds after today.

This was the wow factor. I was trying to track the blue wing warbler when this charmer buzzed my head. I froze. The hummer was in my face. There is a God!

There is nothing easy about photographing hummers. Think zipping Tinker Bell. All I could get for a while were pictures of the charmer at rest. It was a game of see me? Now you don't.

This charmer was doing a game, a traffic light hummer? Black/ orange.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it. It was the male ruby throated hummingbird. Usually we only see the females. I had to check the bird book at home to sort this out. Black throat, changeable.

I could be posting 100 pictures, black throat/ orange throat. Neat trick if you can do it.

What I really wanted were flight pictures. I tried manual focus, auto focus, back to manual focus. Wish I had an x-ray lens. Finally it was possible to get a few shots.

I left the park after 4pm. I know there will be more hummers in the days to come, but I don't expect to see more male hummers. This was the "wow" for the day.

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Pretty in the park

Nature takes care of itself. The hawks are fine. Migrating birds are coming into the park. I've got about 700 pictures to edit from today.

There are fallen trees, favorite trees, but it could have been much worse. There are broken branches all over the place. It could have been much worse. The lake level is higher. Part of Wagner Cove is under water. There's no swamp land at the Oven, but eventually the water will recede. Don't wear good shoes when going to the park. Mud shoes are more appropriate.

The oriole.
The water thrush.

Happy black-crowned night heron. Good fishing.

I heard the call first, and then there was the carolina wren.

I do love being studied by a sweet cardinal.

Hummers coming soon.

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From the 23rd

I may check out the park in a little while. These are from middle-of-the-week. I don't go birding when there's a hurricane.
Perfectly camuflaged hopper.

If it's there it will get eaten.

Pretty in orange.

This charmer was rolling in the dirt, dirt bath. Get clean= look filthy.

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Storm preparation

If I knew a storm was coming and I was a bird I too would look for a hidey hole.

I have a feeling this is a young yellow shafted flicker. The coloration was strange and not just due to back lighting. It didn't have the strong red patch at back of head and it let me get close. That's very different for a flicker. They're normally skittish birds. It studied every hole in this dead tree, went into each hole, popped out again.

My pals have asked, "What do the birds do?" They know what to do. They've survived for centuries. Fingers crossed that beautiful trees are not blown down.

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