Good morning faithful readers,
Having given my recent attention to one of the largest of the birds in the area, namely the Osprey, for this week I have switched to the smallest one, the Ruby Throated Hummingbird!
I spotted one the other day flitting from flower to flower at the front of our house, so had to get a picture of it which is easier said than done! They are so fast and elusive for this slow moving “Old Guy”, yours truly, that it was a bit of a frustrating job to capture any picture at all! Anyway I did manage it, as shown by the shot that I got of it in the sunshine amongst our few remaining flowers.
The next day, the weather didn’t oblige and torrents of rain descended on any birds that had ventured out to feed. Amongst those caught in the deluge were a pair of immature Cardinals, the male of which, although sporting some bright red feathers, also displayed some very patchy dark ones, which didn’t enhance his bedraggled wet appearance. The female looked in a little bit better shape, (don’t they always!?), and her feathers didn’t look too ruffled! Not having the male’s bright coloring, she didn’t suffer from the wet so badly as he did, or some of the other birds such as the Blue Jay family of six, and our nut feeding Woodpeckers, Chickadees and Nuthatches. Fortunately, their and our dampened spirits didn’t last too long, although the cooling nights are already making them think about moving south of us to warmer climes. Hopefully I am wrong and they stay a little longer to provide us with their beautiful images and songs that brighten our days, in their unselfish way. I hope that you are enjoying their feathery presence too whilst they are still here, but remember, we will be getting their replacement winter residents soon, so don’t stop looking out for them, they’ll be there!
Stay safe and well,
Cheers,
John Baldwin
