What will probably end up being one of the last pictures of a hummingbird this year.

Sitting in the backyard waiting for one of these guys to visit our flowers, I heard a familiar sound from behind me in a pine tree. I swiveled around and there it was, a broad-tailed hummingbird perfectly silhouetted against the late afternoon sun.

Since this was taken last week, I have caught a few fleeting glimpses of these summertime visitors but they aren’t sticking around, mainly doing drivebys of the feeders as they work their way south for the winter.

I just learned that these little guys have their own day that is today! That works out well as we have had a few gathering their energy in our yard the last couple of days, preparing for their long migration south.

They have been opting for eating from the zauschneria, preferring them to our artificial feeders. Kind of fun to be able to just sit in the backyard and get a photo op.

It took a lot of work and patience but this pretty lady finally gave me one of the shots I was looking for this past weekend.

The hummingbirds were quite active and while I got many captures of them, I was really wanting to get a shot of one with a bit of a “spotlight” on it. For the longest time, I was either getting captures of them in full sun or in full shadow.

Then, finally, this pretty lady sat in the right spot with one bit of dappled light illuminating her head. Just gorgeous and a capture I am really pleased with.

Taken in Golden Gate Canyon State Park, Colorado.

Activity at the feeder we put up at our campsite in the forest had been relatively calm. We had as many as 10 hummingbirds visiting at a time, all getting along harmoniously for the most part.

However, when this orange missile showed up, things changed rapidly. Rufous hummingbirds are well known to be the bullies of the hummingbird world and this one lived up to their reputation.

For an hour he took over the scene ensuring no other bird got near the feeder, jealously guarding it against all interlopers. From a perch 20 feet away or so, he would watch and the instant another hummingbird approached, he was off like a rocket, intercepting the other hungry birds.

It was pretty entertaining to watch. Thankfully for the broad-tailed hummingbirds, the rufous eventually lost interest and things became much quieter after that.

I spent six days in Colorado’s high country in Arapaho National Forest this past week and it was absolutely heaven. Just me, my family and the critters and absolutely was what the doctor ordered.

The hummingbirds provided continual entertainment as they buzzed around the flowers and feeders we had setup. Here, a broad-tailed hummingbird comes in to investigate some fireweed, probably my favorite flower.

For those that are curious.. This was taken with my new Canon R5 mated to the 100-400 L II. I’ll be posting my initial thoughts on this revolutionary new camera soon but I will go ahead and say that I am quite impressed so far.

Such cool birds but so darned hard to get a good shot of. Thankfully, during a recent camping trip in Arapaho National Forest, I found a couple that were somewhat cooperative including this one.

This broad-tailed hummingbird was actually a bit of a bully. It staked claim to the feeder and had no interest in sharing, chasing off competitors regularly.

On our trip to Colorado’s high country last week I had hoped to entice some of these fast movers in for some pics. I didn’t have that much luck and oftentimes lighting was less than ideal. I did manage some images of this cool one as it approached the feeder.

This guy took a keen liking to our feeder at our campsite this past weekend. So much so in fact, he pretty much kept all other interested hummingbirds away, something which they are known to do. I failed at getting any decent flight shots but did manage some decent ones as he stood guard. Taken in Arapaho National Forest.