Hummingbirds

Unexpectedly I had the afternoon off today. So I decided to take my dog for a walk in the brilliant Fall sunshine rather than having to walk her after sunset as per our usual Fall/Winter weekday routine. As I was unloading stuff from the car adjacent to our front yard I could hear rapid clicking of what I knew to be a hummingbird. I looked in the direction of the sound but could not actually see the source.

A hummingbird is a pretty small target to isolate, especially when it's perched in a maze of brown leafless branches. I opened the gate, went in the yard and slowly approached our rhododendron bush, hoping the sound would continue long enough for me to see the bird. Of course the sound stopped just as I stopped, but amazingly enough I saw the bird about 10 feet in front of me balanced on a branch.

Our front yard hummingbird.

It's hard to imagine from this photo but the dark spot directly under the bird's beak flashes bright red when sunlight strikes it at the perfect angle.

Immediately after dutifully posing for this photo the bird buzzed away with its pal (or partner) who had just flown in to alight on a close-by branch. They were not close enough together to get them both in one shot. I wonder it these two are the same ones that built a nest on a tree branch just outside our bedroom window last February.

Ironically, just before I wrote this blog piece there was a segment on CBC radio about the song "Snowbird". These particular birds didn't fly south last winter. I assume they will hang around this winter also. Which reminds me: I have to re-fill the hummingbird feeder this evening.

p.s. Nov. 26, 2015

I refilled the hummingbird feeder before I left for work this morning because I was reminded by the clicking in the front yard that the hummingbirds were there; probably hungry, looking for breakfast.

Since the sun was barely up this morning as I took this shot, this was the only non-blurry photo I managed to get.