Juvenile Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Once I have a curiosity about something, I quickly let it cross over to passion. It happened with art, guitar, writing, pottery, gardening, and now – for the past year or two – photographing birds. I don’t “put a bird on it” as they do in Portlandia, and I’m not a good photographer as I’ve received no training and only have a point and shoot, but I love trying to get up close and capture them with the lens.

Last night just after the sun set and the garden was quickly getting dim, when the hummingbirds are most active at the feeder, I crouched just behind the fence right below the feeder and propped up the camera on a picket while angling the display screen where I could see it.There was one juvenile male ruby-throated hummingbird that was perching on a dried up gladiola stem only four or so feet from the feeder. I didn’t witness him ever take a sip of the nectar, but he was focused on chasing away all competition. At one point, I felt either the flapping of his wings on my hair or it was just the wind, but he hovered just a few inches from me as he was scaring off a hungry female.