Thursday, August 09, 2007

Hummingbird Pics

I am determined to get a few photos of the hummingbirds which are constantly zipping about our garden this year. Since it was overcast today, I took the opportunity to try again. The quality is not good, but here goes anyhow:




The hummingbirds are most often near the Buddleia (butterfly bush) and Monarda in the top corner of the garden, but are also visiting many of the flowers in the garden, including the Crocosmia, Phlox, Lilies, and Fuschia. They chase each other around the yard, and up into the alder trees beyond our fence. They are so fun to watch.

I am really pleased with the Helianthus Giganteus this year, I wish I had a few more. Grows like a weed, as does the other sprout in the photo. :-)

Speaking of our sprout, after talking about wanting a pet every day for I don't know how long, we finally gave in to her request, and got her a hamster 4 days ago. "Hammy" seems to be settling in to the household fairly well. We have started taking him outside in the early evenings, while we clean his cage (I'm sure this daily ritual won't last long!). It is interesting that if we put his cage out, he will stay near it.

But that seems to be true of any large object; we had the same result with an overturned flower pot tonight. If he's in the open, he makes a quick dash for the wall, and runs along it. I am reminded of the time my son and I witnessed a small mouse running out into the street, and a crow swooping out of nowhere, to snatch it up. It is no wonder the hamster is not comfortable out in the open.

Hammy also enjoys my snap peas (just the peas, not the pods), so it gives me an excuse to get out picking them regularly. I had fallen behind in checking on them, since I had a large bag of store-bought snap peas in the fridge for the last week or so to enjoy. I just noticed that my Purple Peacock beans are ready to start picking, and I brought in my first handful last night. It seems only days ago that I had checked, and they were barely in flower. This summer is going by much too quickly for my liking.

To end on a positive note, the dahlias I received from my father-in-law are looking gorgeous again this year. My favourite is these tall (6') pink and white ones. They start out a vibrant pink, and fade almost to white with age. This year again, I didn't stake them early in the season, and it is too awkward to try now (without breaking too many branches), so the plants are flopping forward too much, especially when it rains. But the flowers, I think, are stunning.

5 comments:

  1. nice effort on the hummingbird pics. I wish I had some. One whizzed past me earlier this summer but I haven't seen it since. the dahlias are lovely as are those cute baby birds with their mouths wide open. Hammy's a real charmer too.
    Cheers.
    Irena

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  2. Great photos of the hummingbird. They flit in and out so quick it is difficult to get any shots of them.

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  3. I appreciate your effort on the hummingbird photo as I was trying this weekend too and didn't get nearly as good a shot! There must be some setting on my camera that I don't know about - couldn't be my lack of expertise! We'll just keep trying.

    Wow, those dahlias are lovely, and tall!

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  4. What a wonderful blog! I'd love to see a humming bird for real but we don't get them here in the UK :o(

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  5. We live not that far from you, and entertain some of the same family that you do in our garden......
    http://pat-hummingbirds.blogspot.com/

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