Fly By

Utterly thrilled to have captured another hummingbird at Skidaway Nature Reserve in Georgia this afternoon. I really can't get enough of them!!

So very tiny as they whiz past at speed and totally thrilling to see. I could sit all day trying to capture them as they are such magical colours. The iridescence of their small feathers and the sheer speed of their wing flap which is about 80 per second is astounding. They can fly left and right up and down, backwards and even upside down! Another amazing fact is that they use their long tongue to lick nectar, tree sap and pollen at a rate of 13 licks per second...some going. At night or when food is scarce they go into a state of torpor slowing their metabolic rate to 1/15 of the normal rate.

The blip meet is coming to an end tonight and I have really enjoyed seeing the old blippers and meeting new faces this weekend. Missing those who went earlier too!

Would add this has only been cropped.