All we have so far this year are black-chinned hummingbirds, but ain’t they nice? Next will come the broadtails and then the rufouses. There may even be a few Costa’s hummingbirds. For that matter, a few minutes before I took this shot, a male Bullock’s oriole was climbing all over the feeder, sending it spinning when he left. What an amazing picture that would be, if only I could take it. These orioles are highly sensitive to any movement on my part and always flee instead of hanging out to get to know us better.
But just look at this guy! See the reddish “shadow” on his breast? That’s reflected color from the red plastic of the feeder. Most people don’t realize light can spread like that and bounce color onto nearby objects, but it was one of the first things I learned in painting class.
John Hamilton Farr lives at 7,000 feet in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, U.S.A. As New York Times best-selling author James C. Moore tells it, John is “a man attuned to the world who sees it differently than you and I and writes about it with a language and a vision of life that is impossible to ignore.” This JHFARR.COM site is the master writing archive. To email John, please see CONTACT INFO on .png)
Those are some seriously great birdie pictures! You must have lots of patience to get those pictures. Is your window open so you can hear them come and snap them?
My hummer feeder is right outside our kitchen window. I primarily get Anna’s, with an occasional Rufous. For the last few years, starting around the end of March a hooded(?) oriole pair shows up. The male is quite often seen on the feeder, the female less often. Like yours, mine are *extremely* skittish, even though I’ve fed them for years now 🙂
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