Jeri your weed-filled mess does sound like an August wonderland.

We spot about 1 hummingbird a year here, it's always a big event. But last week I visited friends in West Virginia and their two hummer feeders were busy most of the day. I never knew how they tweetle before! Yes, tiny little twitters and cheepings. Also never knew they really do sound like bee-zilla (or a bee-29) when they zoom past your ear. Very startling. Even worse when they fly under a corrugated metal shed roof. I also noticed that the chittering got loudest just before one or more of them made a feeder run. It was useful because I could get my camera ready (for one more set of fuzzy pictures....).

I started with the camera at 1/160 of a second and changed it to 1/320 of a second. Mistake. The ones with the fast shutter speed did not show any wings on the birds at all! The whirring wings were too translucent, I think. At least with the slower shutter speed there was a nice blur that suggested wing feathers. I might be able to get the actual wing at 1/1000 of a second but the light was too dim for that while I was there.

My main reason for taking photos is to get detailed information for my woodburning, so I don't worry if I don't have fancy, publishable photos. I am pretty thrilled to have these. If I'm not too lazy I'm going to put some of them up online, will post here if I do.

Rita F