Emerald Hummer

Young male Anna's Hummingbird [Calypte anna] at Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria, CA

This is my friend from the other day. I thought you might enjoy seeing his beautiful green back. Like I said, I have a few more shots to go through so I'm sure you'll see more of him in the coming photos of the day. This was one of his other favorite perches. I really liked the alternating diagonal lines, but he was usually sitting at an area that was behind another bush. I got lucky this one time when he decided to land further out.

One other interesting thing in the comparison of the two shots is the fact that his head and throat plumage is very directional. If you have never seen one of these guys up close, that is not a trick of the camera. The feathers are amazingly iridescent when he looks right at you. So much so that my computer has trouble dealing with the details in them from the hot color of the feathers. But when he looks away, the same feathers look almost black. I love the details in nature! That is why I can happily spend hours on the same subject and still go back for more.