Coming in hot!!!

There is a phrase in car racing for when a driver comes into "pit lane" too fast - they say he's "coming in hot." That is what this shot reminded me of. My husband always says that the hummers remind him of a bunch of out-of-control, angry race cars zooming all over the place. I can't really disagree!

And, yes, I thought I'd give you a break from bugs today. Which doesn't mean that I didn't capture some with the nifty Nikon lens. In fact, I got some butterflies, a sweat bee, a wasp and my first stab at a water droplet. But I had to make it a hummer day today. I am all too aware than they are getting ready for their fall migration. Soon, the adult males will start leaving, one by one, for their long journey to Mexico. By mid-September, I probably won't see the flash of red gorget in the garden anymore. My consolation is that the juveniles born this summer will delay their departure by as much as month, trying to get as big and strong as they can for their trip. And I will have nectar feeders out until late November for any late migrants who come through.

If you'd like to see 3 other hummer shots plus a selection of macros for the day, I've posted 9 shots on Flickr, starting HERE. The first shot shows one of the adult hummers in a pretty advanced state of molt - the only time you'll ever see a hummer looking anything less than spectacular!

Thank you for sending my little jumper to the Spotlight - what a neat surprise! And for those of you who are curious. the relocation of the much larger nursery web spider was carried out with only a few girlish screams (me, not her, although I am certain that she would have screamed if she could as we raced across the patio with her mint sprig clenched in my grill tongs...) Yea, go ahead and laugh - until you find yourself running around the yard with a huge spider! She is now somewhere in the butterfly garden. Probably pissed off and plotting revenge.

xxoo
Debbi