Saturday, July 4, 2009

Hummingbird & Bee Balm

See the little pink arrow (in the pic below) pointing into what seems like the abyss of a pine tree? Right on the edge of that branch sits the hummingbird I was waiting for (see it now?), it was checking me out in my hiding spot, sizing up whether I really posed a threat to it reaching it's goal - the big burst of bee balm flowers it comes to feed on a few times a day. I don't know exactly how animals decide whether you are bad or good but I know if you stay extremely still & think nice thoughts it helps gain trust. The hummingbird made it's choice that me and my camera weren't going to do much of anything worthwhile and swooped down into the flowers for a feast! These are not the best pics in the world, but it was so exciting and exhilarating and fun to watch close up I could have exploded...
XoXo

7 comments:

Bort said...

good job shweet pea!

Miss Voodoo said...

Thanks Bort.
Ya know what's crazy- it looked like at one point the butterfly kinda pissed off the hummingbird and they had a little spat - that or they got really excitable in each others presence/vibrations. But it felt aggressive - which I never think of hummingbirds being like.

Gratuitous said...

Yup, that shot is a major coup. But I've heard hummingbirds can indeed be quite fierce. There have been occasions when birds, even birds of prey such as hawks and eagles have suddenly fallen to earth, dead. Turns out some of their hearts were pierced with the tiniest of holes... about the circumference of a hummingbird beak.

Miss Voodoo said...

gratuituos-
That's F'ed up.
Yesterday the butterfly came down and started messing with the hummingbird this time. Funny how our image of things we consider "beautiful" obliterates the fierceness they possess.

Gratuitous said...

It's so cool how your winged neighbors are still coming around. It never occurs to me to go back after espying interesting critters; I just assume they're all transient. Now I'm gonna go back to the honeysuckle where I last saw a hummingbird, and be still for awhile.

Have you thought about a camera trap? It would take some effort and some bucks, but a motion-sensitive camera trigger could lead to some amazing shots of your larger animal neighbors, especially if there's infrared for nighttime. I'm sure Bort could identify frequented animal paths to "ambush." Retrieving the camera every few days would be unbelievable thrilling.

Miss Voodoo said...

Yo Gratuitous-
I read in a Tom Brown Jr. book on tracking animals, that they are very routined and come to the same spots over and over again. That hummingbird comes a few times a day, and so does the same (or same type) of butterfly.
Tell me if your hummingbird comes back, that would be cool! Sometimes it's hard to sit still so long and I will bring a book and listen for sounds instead. The hummingbird makes a grasshopper high pitched chirp sound before it swoops down making that vibrating buzz sound with it's wings. Then you know you are going to see it.
I totally want to get a video camera - but I am saving up to get a Donkey right now. I would love to wait in the woods at night after putting out peanut butter or something - then film. My regular camera may already have the motion trigger dingy in it- I have to read the directions i guess. lol

Gretta said...

I'm not a fan of birds but hummingbirds are amazing. They are apparently hours away from starving to death all the time because they have such crazy high metabolism. I'm betting this would make me aggressive around my food too. The pictures are awesome.