Profile Of A Hummingbird

Day 182 (Part A): These little buggers are so darn hard to photograph! They just fly right out of the frame before you can react to click the shutter. Not only that, they choose to show up when the light isn't good. Let a ray of sunshine fall on the feeder and they all head back to shelter. I suppose that's because they're native to the Pacific Northwest and sunshine frightens them.

I've given up trying to capture them from the back porch, although I've gotten a few decent shots. This photo was taken through an open window. I was running herd on cats with one hand (they're not allowed outdoors and they know it), trying to stabilize the camera on my knee with the other. The male wouldn't perch for more than a nanosecond, so here you see a female. She is a Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus, no bigger than a man's thumb. I have more of them at the feeder now than I had at the peak of the season last year, eating me out of house and home. For tiny little things, they have huge appetites!

You might want to check out her mate, Mr. Rufous H. Bird.