Allen's Hummingbird Enjoys California Wildflowers
March 22 2010
I drove from L.A. to San Luis Obispo County to spend a day photographing spring wildflowers, and what an amazing day it was. The canyons were glowing with a visual feast for the eyes and nose and soon I realized I wasn't alone. A large re-tailed hawk soared effortlessly above and I quickly removed the 200mm macro lens from my camera and popped on a 300mm with a TC, focused on the hawk, clicked away, and realized I had neglected to change my camera from single shot focus to continuous mode. In the seconds it took to make the adjustment, the hawk was flying away, when suddenly, about five feet in front of me a gorgeous little hummingbird performed an aerial ballet above the flowers. I dropped to my knees, then onto my belly, and carefully slid down the hill while tracking the hummer as it flitted from flower to flower, drinking sweet nectar, while transferring pollen from blossom to blossom.
Giant Coreopsis emerge from winter hibernation
Red-tailed hawk departing the scene
Beautiful male Allen's Hummingbird seeking sweet wildflower nectar
Displaying a brilliant red gorget
Diving
Sipping nectar while in flight
Inquisitive
Flying from flower to flower
Enjoying a Beautiful Day
The tiniest soul with feathers
Cute Little Bird
Bulls Eye
Sweet wildflower nectar offers hummingbirds a delicious treat,
while dusting their bills with pollen, to pollinate the next blossom
Abundant Wildflowers
Busy Bird
Beautiful Wings
Keeping an eye on the camera, and operator
Another tasty looking flower
Time for more pollen on the bill
Hovering Effortlessly
Gorgeous male Allen's hummingbird posed for a close up photo, and departed
Beautiful California Poppy in full bloom
I photographed numerous flowers, but this page has enough photos...
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