Humming Along

An absolutely beautiful butterfly bush grows rampantly right next to the back of the house. I'm not sure it was intentionally planted there, since no sane landscaper would have chosen that spot, but since it is flourishing, I just try to keep it healthy. After all, it's very popular with favorite backyard visitors. I have often wondered if I could take a cutting and get another one established somewhere more open. Are there any horticultural green thumbs out there that can give me a few pointers?

I kept trying to capture a good picture of this female ruby-throated hummingbird as it inspected blossom after blossom. Needless to say, she was almost always a blur of movement, probing each tiny flower in every cluster she visited.

The speed with which she collected nectar was a little dizzying and often, by the time I started to get focused on her position, she moved on to the next course of her meal.

I did manage to get a few pictures that were at least recognizable, which was something. The hummers are traveling through on their way south again and the ones I am seeing now are the last stragglers of the season.

She does look a little bit frazzled from her long flight, doesn't she? I like to keep the feeders going until October, just in case somebody got a late start or got blown off course by an unexpected storm. Birding experts say that they are usually gone by mid-September, but this sweet girl was still refueling today.