Sometimes you get lucky...

It's that time of year around here when I go through white sugar 

like a candy crazed toddler.

No, not for me but for those tiny miracles of the bird world...

The hummingbirds.

I have 3 feeders right now as opposed to one during the winter.

The Anna's hummingbird sticks around all year and I keep them fed

through rain and snow and sleet and hail.

Then around the beginning of March, the Rufus hummers show up.

These guys are small but mighty and VERY territorial.

They chase the Anna's away constantly and chase each other and 

anything else that gets in their way.

Capturing their picture can be quite challenging.

Sometimes they play peek-a-boo...

Sometimes they just become a fiery, whirling blur...

Or you catch a bit of those magical light defracting grating feathers...

Maybe you'll get a glimpse of the power of those tiny wings that can beat up to 80 times a second!!

Think about that...can you count to 80 in a second?!

And then there's the moment you get lucky!

Just clicking the shutter button at the right time...

To catch a shot of these small wonders is such a treat...

They are so busy just trying to stay alive...sucking back all of that nectar to keep

up their strength to fly up to speeds of 55km /hr or 35km/hr backwards!

To keep that minuscule heart beating at rates of up to 1,260 beats per minute is a lot of work!

Their wee lungs can take up to 250 breaths a minute...

And then at night they sleep...deep sleep...torpor it's called.

 A type of hibernation that allows them to conserve massive amounts of energy

by lowering their body temperature and almost shutting down their kidneys.

They can lose 10% of their body weight at night.

Then at first light in the morning, you hear them...that delightful buzzing sound and they're at it again

So here's to these, the smallest of bird species, 

 for sure the busiest, 

certainly one of the most entertaining

and definitely one of the sweetest!