Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are truly awesome creatures. I adore watching them dart around, hover over a nectar-filled flower, and squeak at one another as the spirited little birds fight for access to a feeder.

Even at the fastest shutter speed it is tough to capture great photos of hummingbirds. They flap their wings up to 75 times per second! I’m exhausted just typing that, yet these birds will fly all the way from Eastern Canada to South America during the fall migration. They must eat well to be able to expend that much energy over such a long distance when they weigh in at less than 3 grams.

I chose to write about hummingbirds, because yesterday I was out in my garden gazing at my red bee balm flowers just wishing that I’d hear the loud buzz or high squeaks of my little feathered friends.

My all-time favourite moment with hummingbirds happened four or five years ago. A male, ruby-throated hummingbird was perched on my clothesline in a rainstorm. He sat there shaking his entire body as he bathed in the rain. Raindrops rolled down his tiny iridescent neck. Water dripped from the end of his long beak and the clothesline beneath him.

AWESOME!

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