Nat Geo Moment...

Yesterday I was looking out one of the big windows that shows the back deck, a plum tree and the mountain slope.  There were several birds in the tree--mostly robins, with a few little sparrows--having a get-together of some kind.  It was interesting, though nothing unusual...until this darting flash of yellow/green whipped around the tree, scattering the sparrows and pissing off the robins who began flapping and grousing.   After everyone flew off, a tiny green hummingbird settled on the tree, claiming a prime spot as he surveyed the landscape.

I recognized this wee guy.  Last summer I had to water the pumpkins on the slope every evening, and almost without fail he would come out of nowhere, flit around my head, darting here and there, sometimes even flying through the spray of water.  Once he came within a foot of my face, the sound of his wings a loud buzz of noise in the quiet of dusk as he hovered in front of me.  I used to talk to him, asking about his day, why he was alone, how were things in his world...you know, chit chat.

When fall arrived, I just assumed he would fly south...or go wherever Hummingbirds spend the colder months.  I couldn't imagine how this tiny creature could survive in frost or snow.  I remember reading once that because of the energy they expend every moment of every day, they have to eat constantly.  What would he eat in the winter?  Unless he flew south, of course.  Well, what a shock to see him flitting all over the back garden one day as the snow softly fell.  I've seen him often over these fall/winter months; he's always by himself, and sometimes the bigger birds pick on him (bullies are everywhere), but he's too fast for anything serious to befall him.

Okay, so back to yesterday.  I watch him sitting on the branch and wonder if I can grab my camera and get back before he flies away.  Doubtful, but worth the effort.  I dash into the living room, snag the camera, carefully sidle up to the window and do the Macro thing on my camera--a feature I love but that really requires a tripod, just my heartbeat jars the camera like an aftershock.  I center him in my lens, hold my breath, and quickly fire off ten photos, half from one angle, and half after he did this nanosecond maneuver and turned on the branch between one shutter click and the next.  He is one hyper little guy.

I managed to get one that I think is almost perfect, and three others that are borderline good, all things considered.

The first shot, with his back to me.  Love his yellow/green color...

This is the money shot--so to speak.  You can even see his tiny, minute tongue sticking out of his beak...how amazing is that?  Because my camera is on Macro, he looks like a normal-sized bird.  Visualize something the size of your thumb and that would be close, if not actually too big.

He is just getting ready to do his turn-on-a-dime move here...

And now we can see his manly chest and again a clear view of that tongue.  And I have to say, I don't understand why he doesn't have a girlfriend, really I don't: handsome, manly, colorful, brave (driving off bullies), and that tongue...