Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Hummers of the Summer
Hummingbirds really are birds. They do more than just buzz around. they also sit! and amazingly enough, they preen themselves! I tried to get a picture of him preening himself, but that's pretty rare - I've only seen it once, and the camera was in the other room. but they certainly do visit the garden.
Two of the hummingbirds fight all the time. One seems to own our garden, and he's very aggressive about protecting his territory. If a bee or butterfly wants to come in and have some nectar, that's ok - but if another hummer comes by, then - look out! No other hummers allowed. Here he is: 
But the other thing is, we've finally been seeing the butterflies. Of course the white ones have been here for over a month - probably two months. A few weeks ago, the yellow and black ones came through. I think they may be swallowtail, I'm not certain, but they come every year. However, a new butterfly showed up today, an orange and black one. I found a picture of it on the web which called it "vanessa atalanta" or something like that. Anyway, here's my picture of him: 
