I gave up trying to post this last night as Mudcat blinked in and out:

The photos are pretty convincing, though considering the speed of a hummingbird's wings and even taking into account the shutter speed and aperture on a bright day, it seems like there should be some blur or distortion (instead of a stop-action shot) around the bird if it was indeed flapping its wings, as the article says."This photo is just as I found it after hearing the hummer`s wings a buzzing from about 15 foot away." The bird may have died or stopped fighting between when it was heard and before the photos were taken. Or the photographer may have heard a different hummer. The bird is in the same stiff position in both photos. If we take away the bit about the bird wings making a sound and the torn throat that isn't in the photograph, then this could be a simple scavenger story, of a mantis finding a deceased bird and eating it in his favorite goldenrod stand, and a photographer with an imagination. Maybe the dying bird expired on that flower and the mantis found it. I'm not saying I don't believe the original account, I'm saying the photo is lacking a couple of clues to document the story the way it is told.

Food for thought, anyway.

SRS