Day Seven - Take a Bow!

And this concludes my week of hummingbirds! That's not so say there won't be more hummies, just that I will intersperse them with other things...

I chose this shot from several today because I wanted you to see the beautiful iridescent feathers on their backs. Hummingbirds get a lot of attention for their flashy gorgets (the males, that is) but to ignore the back would be a shame. My hubs says they look like fish scales, which they kind of do. I prefer, however, to look at them as sequins - dazzling to the eye and ever-changing.

Thank you all so much for the many hearts, stars, and comments on my hummingbird series. I'm glad you've enjoyed it! For those of you who don't have the joy of watching these tiny gladiators, I hope that I've shown you a glimpse of their brave spirit and huge personality. As for me, I plan to enjoy the next 6-8 weeks, until the last of them have headed south.

The big news today is that the house wren babies fledged. I took a break in between conference calls and in the 30 minutes I was out back, I got to see 4 of them leave the nest! A magical thing to see and I am so glad I didn't miss it this time! Mama has been calling them for the last few days, so I knew their fledge was imminent. When I went out today, she was on the top of the nest box with a big insect, calling. In the doorway was a scared looking baby wren - and an instant later, he was airborne and careening his way to the top of our wood shed. he was quickly followed by #2. Then a big debate ensued between #3 and #4, both of whom were in the door of the box, neither making a move to leave. Both of them left somewhat less than gracefully, with a bit of scrabbling and clinging to the outside of the box. And I distinctly heard one of them scream "Crap!"

I've posted 4 shots of the baby wrens leaving the nest, and 3 additional hummie shots HERE on Flickr.

Tonight's dinner is fresh ravioli (from the store, not my hands) with fresh chopped cherry tomatoes and herbs from the farm. And maybe a few crumbles of goat cheese ... I do love summer!

xxoo
Debbi

PS: and for a laugh, check out last year's Blip of an all-together different bird!