Male Anna's Hummingbird

As I was out in the neighborhood looking at flowers for a blip, I kept hearing this hard sharp tist, kind of a chatter. I knew it was a bird, but I kept looking in the trees and couldn't see anything. Then I walked a few more steps and it sounded like it was literally in my face....IT WAS, perched on a single branch right above my head. This lovely Anna's Hummingbird sat quite proudly on that branch and let me take lots of photos, even moving around to another spot to take more. He was obviously enjoying all the attention....so he had to be my blip today!

When I downloaded my photos, I was amazed at the gleam of the beautiful rose-red head. Anna's are one of the most common hummingbirds on the West Coast of the US, and stretch from Baja California up into Canada. They live on the nectar of flowers and also eat small insects and spiders.