Yesterday my dad’s cat Precious had a problem. It was a beautiful day, nice and warm, and she was inside! So my dad and I decided to let her out on the porch, and while we supervised her, see if we could photograph the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in his yard. Precious thought this was a fantastic idea.

Our first bird was a male Ruby-throated. He showed off his red gorget but hid behind the flowers. My mom’s Red Rocket plant (Russelia sarmentosa, related to the firecracker plants you can find at Lowes and Home Depot) is a hummingbird magnet. I’ve been trying to get some established in my garden too.

Next up we had a juvenile male. You can tell from the speckles on his gorget that he’s a little boy (a female would be entirely white). Actually this bird confused me for a few minutes, because he had a ton of pollen on his chin that glistened green in the sun. You always hope you have a rare species of bird but nope, he just needed to wipe his chin!

Patience is the key with photographing hummers. My shots got better and better, and I was able to isolate the birds nectaring from individual flowers. I dialed up my ISO too, even though it was sunny, to make sure my shutter speed was fast enough to freeze the wings (ok, almost freeze the wings). This last shot was my favorite. The only thing that would make it better would be if you could see the one wee spot of red on the bird’s gorget. In a few months, he’ll be sporting a chinful of red!