Tuesday, August 08, 2006
YES, WE HAVE ANTLERS TODAY!Most of the bucks we see in our small valley have only buds instead of antlers, so I was impressed with this young male. He was also one of the rare ones who didn't run at my approach. At least not right away!
I came upon him at a turn in the road at the top of one of the hills I try to climb early each morning. When I first saw him I stopped and stood still for several minutes. Then I took three giant steps and stopped, stock still again. He let me do this about ten times before he literally turned tail and ran, white flag showing. At every stop I snapped photos, thinking I might not get any closer. You can see how close I got from this photo. Isn't he pretty?
HUMMINGBIRDS ABOUND We have two hummingbird feeders on the back porch. And they've been almighty busy during the spring and summer months. Usually there is one "boss" bird who monitors the feeding station and chases all others away. So it's never boring at the feeders as we watch who is "boss" today and who gets chased away. And will the tiny one with the white neck ring ever outwit his nemesis and get a swig of juice?
Hummingbird wings always seem to be whirring as if in perpetual motion. Since I never see them still, I was intrigued with this photo from Bruce Smith on his website. He captured this little hummer enjoying a break from his usual frenetic quest for nectar.
Bruce has agreed to let me use his photos on this blog when my own are not sufficient. He has a gallery of wildlife photos at http://reddog.org you might want to check out.
For more information on hummingbirds this is a great site:
http://birding.about.com/library/weekly/aa072401a.htm
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