Just what I wanted...

I am not even going to tell you how long it took me to get this shot today...a mere two weeks ago it would have taken less than 15 minutes to nab a decent shot of a hummer on a flower.  But as fall marches ever-closer, the hummers are starting to leave.  The adult males leave first, followed a week or two later by the adult females.  The juveniles, like this young male, will be the last to go.  How will they know where they are going?  This is, to me, one of the great mysteries of nature - how a young bird knows where to go, with no help or guidance from an adult.  

But I digress.  While a few weeks ago it was the norm to see 10-12 hummers zooming around the garden, today the peak was five.  That made getting my shot a bit more challenging.  In between garden chores, grocery shopping, etc, I spent time in the garden with Big Daddy, waiting for just the right shot.  I got so many crap-shots...sigh.  However, this one came along later in the day and I'm very happy with it.  The sun was behind me which was perfect and the hummer hovered precisely long enough for me to get one in-focus shot (and 5 blurry ones.)  Job done.

My runner-up shot today would be this lovely little pearl crescent butterfly or maybe this juvenile mourning dove, hiding in plain sight.  But the hummer remains my pick for the day.  Not going to have too many more opportunities to blip them this year...

Thank you for everyone who viewed my cat to chrysalis video yesterday.  Even my husband (who isn't a big fan of insects of any sort) was mesmerized watching the transformation.  By the way, in addition to the 3 chrysalis', I also have six more very small caterpillars in another enclosure.  Surely with all of these, I'll be able to get video of the butterfly leaving the chrysalis...  

Cheers, and have a lovely weekend.

Debbi