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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Nature Notes: Elusive Hummers, Fairy Asters, Seeds and such

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I've had more hummingbirds than ever in my garden this year but not much luck photographing them.

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Ironic how hard they can be to shoot because they practically run into me. I will be in my garden and whoosh, another near miss with a hummer.

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Soon the hummers will leave for the winter so I decided to post this series of shots I took this morning, although none of them are good. The action sequence was taken within about 30 seconds with me click, click, clicking as the hummer darted overhead.

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I recently found out that a common name for aster vimenius is Fairy Aster. I love it and will be able to remember that name unlike its longer harder one to remember.

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Fairy Asters are a treat for me in September and October when they bloom, covering large sections of my garden in their tiny white flowers. These are both macro shots but the flowers are very tiny and they form shrub like mounds that almost look like snow hills.

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The fairy asters have just started to bloom and it will be at least a week or so before they give me snow like hills of blooms. The mimosa tree below, with its seeds dangling down, illustrates why mimosa trees sprout up all over the place. I have several that I've let grown as volunteers from my neighbor's seeds which I imagine a bird dropped.

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We've been getting a lot of rain off and on, and I always love to photograph the rain drops on flowers and leaves. The hibiscus blossom below is one of many still in bloom.

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Redbud trees are another that I have volunteer all over the place from the proficient seeds the mature ones drop in the summer. I like the heart shaped leaves from the redbud. Many are already turning yellow and dropping but some like the one below are still green.

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I guess I'll end with a shot of some of the grasses which are brown going to seed. I still have tall green grasses with plumes too. September is the time of a little bit of everything where I live.

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15 comments:

tigerfish said...

Nature is just so lovely.

Ascender Rises Above said...

very nice capture of the bird (and flower) Is it my imagination or are there more hummingbirds this year?

MaR said...

Love seeing the hummingbirds' silhouettes. Your garden looks wonderful any time of the year! we are expecting heavy rains this evening, what my garden needs is gentle showers after weeks without a raindrop...

Daryl said...

Interestingly the mimosa trees in my neighborhood dont flower but they do have those seed pods ... odd, eh.

Cezar and Léia said...

I love all your "unlucky" photographs of humming critters! :)
God bless you!
Cezar

Caron said...

I love the curly white petals over the center of the Fairy Aster. How lovely. I have recently seen both a hummingbird and a heron flying nearby. No camera on me, but even if I had had a camera, nobody was sticking around! They were both in flight.

RA said...

Wonderful shots! Nature is such an inspiring beauty. Have a great week :)

MyMaracas said...

You have a great set of photos here! I love the hummingbird shots. Like you, we've had quite a few, but not much luck photographing them.

The water droplets look so cool and fresh. Great focus and depth of field on your macros, too! We have those little wild asters here too, along with a lot of purple ones. They're so pretty in drifts.

Rambling Woods said...

The last ruby-throat hummingbird left earlier in the week, but I will leave the feeders up for a couple of weeks...They are hard to capture, but I like you idea and it certainly captures their essence...The asters look familiar..I will have to take a look at the ones we have across the pond... Michelle

RJ Flamingo said...

Great series, Carver! And I envy you your hummers! When will I see one in my yard? (yes, I'm whining!)

I cheated this week and combined my Nature Notes with my PhotoHunt. :-)

Jeanne said...

Carver--I really love the hummingbird shots, especially the fist one you posted.

We have two kinds of hummingbirds in Seattle, one that migrates and one that doesn't, but a siting is a fairly rare thing. I plant flowers that they like, and so I get to see one once in a great while. I've never managed to be quick enough with the camera, though, so thanks for these shots.

Ayie said...

i really didn't get lucky with shooting them...so fast flying around! just a few still shots but not too clear

Ascender Rises Above said...

returning... knowing I already left a comment... the fairy asters caught my eye once again.

Ascender Rises Above said...

returning... knowing I already left a comment... the fairy asters caught my eye once again.

Ascender Rises Above said...

and and well, doh, it posted twice. now you have four comments from me. sorry!