Aerial Jewel

I have always loved hummingbirds. I put up a feeder a couple of months ago, which has attracted several of them, but one in particular (a male Anna's Hummingbird) seems to have claimed the feeder as his own. Hummingbirds are very territorial, and this little guy defends his feeder at all costs. Today was one of those lovely cool overcast days, so I took advantage of the lighting and snapped a couple of pictures of "my" little guy. One of the best things about the male Anna's is the fact that they sing. He sits in the trees in front of my house and sings his little heart out on a regular basis. Right click this link to download an MP3.

Coming in for a landing.

Here's the jewel part -- his beautiful neck feathers. I'm going to keep trying to get closer to him. These pictures were my first attempt after letting him get used to me over the past two months. He didn't seem to bother the flash going off, so I'm hoping I'll get some good shots as time goes by.