...She is ready to be wooed

It was a good blip day, but as is often the way, the shot that is my personal favorite for the day was one I took this morning while having tea on the deck. This little female hummer came and landed on a branch about 8 feet from me and proceeded to go through a thorough preening and beautifying ritual. What a joy to watch - and how happy I was to have Big Daddy at hand to help me record the moments. So, here she is - ready for prime time! Because I know that this is only the beginning of my photo love affair with this year's hummers, I started an album for them on Flickr and have added the first four shots - if you'd care to have a look, click HERE.

Other visitors today included a beautiful Gray Catbird who decided to sample some suet, and a always somewhat freaky looking Common Grackle who was also here for suet. And, just so that the birds wouldn't think the day belonged totally to them, my little
chipmunk youngster was dashing around the garden and eating seeds. Cute little bugger.

The second house wren nest is progressing at lightening speed - although one wonders how the little wren gets anything done what with all the singing!

Thank you for all the comments on the damselfly yesterday - he made it to the Spotlight page, which is always exciting. I spotted what I think was a female Ebony Jewelwing today, but by the time I grabbed the camera, she was gone. Aw well.

Grilled salmon with asparagus and fresh spinach from the local farm for dinner tonight. And, I think a nice savignon blanc from NZ... Gearing up for a long weekend - hoohaw!