Through the Window

Lots of activity among the zinnias yesterday. My little Canon Point'n'shoot camera takes much better pictures than my rather ancient phone, especially through the window. 

I've had Ruby Throated Hummingbirds at my feeder all summer, and they are particularly active right now, preparing for a long migration flight to their wintering areas in Central and South America. This female was sampling the zinnia nectar. The wings can beat up to 53 times per second, so no wonder it's such a blur.

And not only hummingbirds among the zinnias, there were two of these green birds hanging onto the flower stems and sampling the seeds. Can anyone tell me what these birds are?

Dry

 Did someone pull out the plug on the big bath tub? Gurgle gurgle....

It's time for the seasonal scrub-a-dub-dub and fall maintenance of the local pool. It will be full of water and swimmers in a couple of weeks.

Co-operation Please!

I would have appreciated a bit more co-operation from this rather tatty Red Admiral butterfly. She (or he?) was happily flitting around the zinnia patch, enjoying the sunshine, and nibbling on the juicy nectar in the middle of the flowers. 

But she kept flapping her wings and fluttering about, and couldn't quite decide which flower was the tastiest, and I wasn't able to persuade her to stay still long enough for me to get a good photo. Perhaps she was camera shy.

I tried talking to her but she wasn't listening. When she landed on a flower, I crossed my fingers that she would show me her wings, and I told her how pretty she was but she ignored me, and kept her wings closed. Or with the occasional flap which was too fast for me.

Finally she landed on this blossom and opened her wings. She didn't stay long. She had places to go and things to do as I'm sure she is aware that it will be migration time very soon.

Thanks for visiting Ms. (or Mr.) Red Admiral.