Friday Five

I thought I would post a few recent images that I liked today. This is the female who lays claim to the feeder. She is displaying a lot of pin feathers on her forehead. Her wings aren't actually as stubby as they look here; it is just the position they were in when the shutter closed. She looks rather more like a bumble bee.

The light bouncing off the feeder is strong enough to illuminate the underbelly of the birds when the sun is full on it. Her left wing looks almost like a little hand in this image. It is funny how the pattern on her neck is not always visible. Females do have a small ruby dot on their necks, but it is very rarely ever visible.

Preening is such a large part of every birds life. It probably wouldn't take nearly so long if they didn't have to do most of it with the tiny point of their bill. Most photographers would not publish a picture of a hummingbird sitting, yet I think they are interesting shots for examining their interesting little bodies.

Believe it or not, this feeder is close to 25 years old. It was a gift from a friend. The base is made of wood and shows the wear of countless hummers doing the same thing this one is doing: gripping the edge with it's toes. Sometimes they land; sometimes they don't.

This may not have been the best photo depicting this posture I have, but it was the first one I came across. I like this type of positioning of the wings even though it shrouds much of the face. It is best when some or all of the eye is visible. The wing positioning reminds me of a skydiver.

The part of the bottle that meets the reservoir is interesting in that it acts like a lens. It doesn't show what is on the other side of the bottle but mirrors what is behind the camera — only upside down.