... Uh oh - trouble in Hummie-ville

I really wanted to try to capture some of the non-stop action at the hummingbird sanctuary in our backyard. If you watched the short video I linked to in yesterday's journal, you can get a glimpse of what goes on out back. But, I really did want to try to capture some of it photos. So, let me just say that I have a lot to learn about photographing multiple birds in flight! This was one of the better shots today, but I can't get the focus right on both birds at the same time ... You'll also notice that I bumped the ISO waaayyy up so that I could get a faster shutter speed. Well, more experimentation is needed, obviously.

We had breakfast on the deck this morning and the buzz of hummingbirds was non-stop. At one point, I glanced up and realized that one of them was hovering about 2 feet in front of my face, as if to say "we need more feeders, madam!" Their wings beat at approximately 50-75 beats per second, and they can clock speeds of 40-50 miles per hour in flight. So, they sound a lot like large bees as they whiz past your hear. My husband gets a bit nervous when they start whizzing around us, insisting that it's only a matter of time before he gets impaled. (Love that sense of humor - one of the many reasons I married him!) Last night when it was raining, there were at least 20 hummingbirds around the feeders in back, possibly more. I feel incredibly lucky that we have so many this year. Some years there only seem to be a few, and then years like this year and last year, we have a huge resident summer population. It's quite magical.

Anyway, what you see here is two hummers squabbling over a single feeder (never mind that there are 10 feeders out there and numerous nectar flowers.) They are quite aggressive and sometimes one will fly directly into another, with much chittering and clicking of beaks. It's a full body experience. No wonder the hubs gets nervous...

We had painting chores at the in-laws house today, and getting ready to settle in for a little dinner on the deck before calling an end to the weekend. Dinner tonight is farm tomatoes, chopped and mixed with some garlic, fresh herbs and goat cheese and served over pasta. One of our favorite summertime meals, when the tomatoes here are at their sweetest. Perhaps some nice frozen margaritas to accompany it... Then, a bit of Olympics!

Hope everyone's weekend was great. I'll get caught up on comments in the next day or so. In the meantime, thank you to everyone who continues to stop in and read my journal, and I promise that I'll give you a hummie-break at some point this week... Just as soon as they stop being so damned cute.