Hummingbird Land!
The Garden
Last week I visited a garden as a scouting trip for a photo shoot and was delighted to find it was just full of Anna’s hummingbirds whizzing past my head! Picture a creaking metal gate surrounded by perfectly rectangular hedges and concrete castle walls. Inside the gate is a maze of bushes adorned with purple trumpet flowers over manicured bushes and rows of kale and cabbage. Wander through the paths to a pillared veranda overhung with vines, all the while watching tiny living projectiles aggressively chase each other. I took a bunch of photos of the garden itself last week, so have a look at my last post, Autumn Colour Celebration, to see what it looked like. And I did go back for that photo shoot, so scroll to the bottom for a sneak peek of the project I was photographing!
Hummingbirds
But this post is about hummingbirds. I didn’t have my bird lens on that first visit, so I had to go back with it to see what I could get. I love photographing hummingbirds because of the challenge and because they’re so cute and fierce! And I was treated to a resident peacock lazing about and being ridiculous. Here are some tiny perfect moments I was able to capture.
An Anna’s hummingbird viewed from the back in profile as they perch on an autumn leaf stem.
An Anna’s hummingbird flying straight towards the camera with blurry wings outstretched.
A very adorable Anna’s hummingbird has just alighted on a red leaf stem with their wings partially extended.
I think those flowers were planted just for them.
The garden planning seemed to really take into account what the hummingbirds would like and they were constantly zooming between those purple trumpets. For photography nerds, I was almost able to get still wings in the images below by shooting at 4000th of a second.
An Anna’s hummingbird hovering with their beak in the throat of a bright purple flower. Their wings are extended behind them.
An Anna’s hummingbird hovering vertically with their head up and tail feathers down. Their wings are stretched out behind them.
Where They Relax
A thing that seems to be true about hummingbirds is that they like to return to the same spot to rest repeatedly. That’s just an observation from me as an amateur, but noticing was one thing that has let me actually get pictures of such fast-moving creatures. I can’t tell if it was the same individual, but birds kept returning to the same little perch and just sitting there bobbing their heads and looking around constantly.
An Anna’s hummingbird perched on the branch of a flowering tree with their tongue stuck out.
An Anna’s hummingbird viewed from the side as they’re perched on the branch of a flowering tree.
An Anna’s hummingbird perched on a branch with one wing sticking out backwards.
A hovering male Anna’s hummingbird among purple flowers and green leaves.
Camouflage
Anna’s hummingbird have jewel-green backs, though what colour they are seems to change depending on the angle and the light. It was so fun seeing just how well they blended in with the garden plants. Often I wouldn’t even realize they were there until they moved.
An Anna’s hummingbird hovering in front of purple flowers with their wings extended in front of them.
A rich green Anna’s hummingbird is almost blending in among vivid green kale in front of purple flowers.
A male Anna’s hummingbird viewed from the front and below is perched on a bare branch among leafy greens.
An Anna’s hummingbird in profile as they perch on a grey twig.
The Peacock
This post is about hummingbirds but I couldn’t NOT take a photo of this individual as I walked past. It’s like someone just kept adding more and more adornment. This one doesn’t even have the long tail feathers right now! More is more! Keep in mind those brown and white striped feathers if you ever find one like it and think it must be from a wild turkey or a raptor. Could just be a peacock!
A peacock is standing on the top of a concrete wall in a flowering garden. Their neck is turned around to look behind them. Their feathers are a riot of different colours and textures from deep teal to sea green, striped white and brown, feathery yellow and green, and dark brown.
Closeup of a peacock’s head and neck. Their head is topped with wispy feathers.
Is This Knitting Related?
Of course it is because of my most recent pattern, A Checklist of Birds! Anna’s hummingbirds are one of the highlighted bird species and that colourway has actually ben one of the most popular ones! I think you can see why in the images of the yarn and Catherine’s work-in-progress below.
Skeins of yarn on a wooden backdrop in magenta, dark green and lime green. Photo by Catherine Gamroth.
The toe of a sock is on the needles. A cake of yarn is in the top left corner, and a completed sock is folded in the bottom left corner. The yarn is beige, Magenta, dark green, and lime green. Photo by Catherine Gamroth.
The Pattern
Here’s a link to the pattern and the yarn, and here’s the pattern FAQ in case you’ve got questions!
A Sneak Peek!
And since you read all the way to the bottom, here’s a peek at the pattern I was photographing in this garden, a new sock design coming next month!
Kiya is standing in a brick courtyard with concrete pillars and autumn foliage in the background. She’s smiling and you can just see floral colourwork socks on her feet.
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