Little Lady in the Leaves

A female Rufus hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) decided to come to rest among the Passiflora Manta leaves today. She was huffing pretty hard when she came to land, but eventually calmed down, puffed out her feathers, flicked her tongue, and stretched her wings. Meanwhile I was sneaking up on her with my camera. I learned last summer that if I move very slowly, pause between steps, and use the camera body to cover my face, these little ones will let me get very close. Next time I hope there are some more flowers, and that there will be a shiny faced male glittering about.

Summer Humming

It's a hot one today by Redondo Beach standards; easily into the mid 80's. I trimmed up the Passiflora vines on the pergola because Fall is approaching and I don't need them to get too clustered and consequently sick. Anyway, I was admiring my work when a humming bird came into the yard, took a few drinks from P. racemosa 'buzios', and then landed well very close to me. I was certain if I moved to get the camera that it would zip away, but despite that certainty, I went for it. Sure enough, when I came back with camera already zoomed and in front of my face, it was gone. Then it came right back! It landed a total of three times and I was able to get very close so long as I moved slowly and kept the camera in front of my face. Apparently, they're smart enough to recognize that a face means danger. This was a very cool ending to August.

Getty Garden

I went to the Getty Museum in L.A. this last week. It was a beautiful 70°F weekday, so there were no crowds. The exhibits were marvelous as per usual, but the garden was in rare form as well. The angel trumpets were in full bloom as well as nearly everything else. The pictures speak for themselves.