I am Kong!

And I am KING of the garden!  

My days with the hummingbirds are starting to wind down for the year- already there are fewer adult males around and soon the adult females will start leaving, one by one.  The juveniles, like young Kong here, will be the last to leave - perhaps lingering until late September.  And by October 1, I won't be greeted by the whir of wings and chatter of tiny flying jewels in my garden.  However, for the next few weeks you can expect to see quite a few hummer blips from me - I will need to store up some photo-memories for the long, cold, hummie-free winter.

This is a classic hummingbird pose, meant to intimate rivals and usually a prelude to a high-speed attack.  It's odd to think of a bird that is only about 2.5 inches long as fearsome - but he does look rather intimidating, doesn't he?  Kong is one of this year's brood and while he lacks the brilliant red throat that he'll have by next spring, you can already see a distinct "5 o'clock shadow".  And what you can't see in this image is that one bright red feather  that's already visible.  Kong was also nice enough to pose for a formal portrait requesting that I shoot him from his best side.  

Meanwhile, the blue jay kids were around the feeders today, making a racket, bickering, and generally being funny.  One of the, unfortunately and to his utter horror, is having one of those dreaded teenage molts where most of the feathers on his head/neck are missing.  The other jays, of course, are making fun of him.  However, he'll have the last laugh because in another month, he'll look fabulous.  (Blue jays and cardinals are both prone to this condition which can be brought on by mites, or just a rough molt - in either case, it doesn't pose a threat to the bird.  That is, if you don't count the embarrassment...)

Released SIX monarchs today!  One eclosed with a wing that was bent at the edge and I wasn't sure if he'd be able to fly.  After releasing the first 5, I gently coaxed him onto my finger and brought him out of the enclosure with the thought of putting him on the buddleia.  He took a look around ...and soared into the air!  So, today makes 17 successful releases so far this year.  In the "loss" category ... one cat that was parasitized by tachinid flies and died in his fifth instar; one that was "born" too weak to survive and had to be euthanized; and two that fell as soft chrysalids.  In the wild, less than 10% of monarch eggs ever become butterflies, so I'm pretty far ahead of the curve thus far.  And I've still got about 30 chrysalids and maybe 8 small cats before the monarch season is over for this year.  

Tomorrow I am up at the crack of dawn to meet up with an friend and drive down to the NJ Shore for an Audubon outing at Brigantine.  Should be a great day as shorebird migration is in full swing now.  

Thanks so much for all the love on yesterday's pair of monarchs.  it was such an unusual behavior to be able to observe and photograph and I was quite pleased with some of the photos.

Happy Friday, people!
Debbi