Hummer City

Here is another fascinating thing about the desert.  There are hummers everywhere.  Not the huge steel driving kind, but the teeny tiny bird variety.  As we drove up to Madera Canyon, we came across a big sign that said Hummingbird something or other.  Sorry, I didn't pay much attention at first.

Then we spotted this.  I'm pretty familiar with this setup.  You place a lovely painted background on a tripod, then set up a table with flowers and most likely syrup to attract birds.  Two big strobes (flash attachments) are set up in front, along with an expensive camera.  Voila!!  You have a hummingbird studio shoot.  When the hummer flies to the flowers, you snap the picture.

Although the pink background would be nice, I just shoot holding my camera.  Surely not as fabulous an image, but good enough when it's too hot to be outside!!  

As we wandered along the edge of the parking lot, we realized what was REALLY going on here.  There were probably fifteen hummingbird feeders, along with ten or so birdseed feeders, all with birds attached.  I've never seen so many hummers in one place before.  

There were lots of varieties I can't name, some very tiny, mostly medium sized with an occasional gorilla-sized guy thrown in for good measure.  

There are even benches for you to sit and watch the fray.  These little guys are territorial, especially when it comes to food!!  

There were a few other birds around, none of which I can name.  It didn't matter.  They were just fun to watch.

The cleanup crew was on the job, making sure not a single seed stayed on the ground.  There was so much going on you didn't know where to look.  If you're ever in the area in the fall, be sure and stop in.  Honestly, I could have sat there for hours and watched these guys.

On the way back home, we stopped in at a new Culvers in Green Valley.  I asked just how spicy the spicy crispy chicken was.  I mean really, it can't be THAT bad or they would get sued for burning someone's mouth, right?  The first two bites were delicious.  It went downhill from there.  By the time I got the last bite down, my mouth was on fire!!

No amount of water quenched the flames, but I drank it down anyway since it gave me two seconds of relief.  I know the bun (otherwise known as bread) wasn't on my diet since I gave it up four months ago.  A couple hours later, I was VERY sorry I ate it.  I finally located one lone stale tums on the shelf in the bathroom.  I ate it.  It didn't help.  Just a little reminder that my all time favorite BREAD is off the menu.

Back home, we had lots of fluffy white clouds before getting a little more rain.   Lightning is streaking across the sky as I type, but the wet stuff is dropping to the ground elsewhere.

The Pillsbury Doughboy stopped by to fix my dryer vent, without much success.  I'll relay that story tomorrow, but I have a question.  Will a solid metal pipe get too hot and start a fire?  Because that would be a great solution to this problem.  

You will find me on my patio this morning watching the hummers.  I now have TWO feeders.  I wonder if I should hang up a third??