Hover

*First, it should be explained that this image, like the vast vast majority of my images- is NOT a crop. Not even a little not even at all. Now that we have that out of the way, on with the intro*


They buzz my head. I hear them nearly everywhere I go. Its spring here in the desert and that means two things...flowers and humming birds. My fascination with them seems to have no limits. I stand in awe as this little female hovers mere centimeters above my lens before deciding to feed. Fearless.

Delicately, she hovers. With mechanical precision she moves from flower to flower, extracting nectar. I have a hard time visually following her. Her wings beat so fast that they are invisible to the naked eye.

Everything about these little birds is fast...a life fed on pure sugar rocket fuel. They move fast, they feed fast, their chicks grow fast. With a heartbeat and metabolism faster than any other animal on earth the life of a humming bird is a demanding one.

I love the moments I spend with them. Graced by their presence- I feel they have as much a curiosity about me as I about them. Pugnacious and territorial, these birds are completely unaware of their size and have few qualms about approaching people.

As she finishes her final sip of the flower, she hovers above my lens again, mere inches from my face. She then zooms off to another part of the garden...no time to slow down. The slowest speed she goes is "hover".