Broad-tailed Hummingbird Male Hovering Below Black Twinberry Honeysuckle Flowers

Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird hovering below Black Twinberry Honeysuckle flowers – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Yesterday I had to use my Samsung tablet to publish my post because something had caused my mouse and keyboard to malfunction. Oddly enough as soon as I published my baby Uinta Ground Squirrel post yesterday morning using my tablet both my mouse and keyboard started working the way they are supposed to. I have no idea why they malfunctioned or why they magically started to work again. I’m just glad I didn’t have to spend a lot of time fixing the issue.

What I didn’t get to share yesterday was some of the frustrations I had getting to the area where I photographed the squirrels or birds I photographed two days ago. There was construction at the exit of the interstate which caused me to arrive at least 45 minutes later than when I wanted to get to the first location. After finally getting through the poorly planned and executed gauntlet that UDOT created I thought I’d be able to relax and just think about finding birds to photograph.

I was wrong.

The county was busy spraying the dirt road down with what I believe was only water but those big trucks rumbling past scared away the birds and they certainly didn’t help at all to create a relaxing atmosphere.

Further up the road after photographing the baby Uinta Ground Squirrels there was a large yellow grader working on the road that was stirring up the dust and making a lot of noise. It wasn’t hard to get past the grader but I feel like I missed seeing some birds because of it. I know I did. I could see and hear them.

Then after arriving at another location where I knew there should be birds moving in the stands of willows and flowering shrubs the wind went from a light breeze to a full blown gale that sent some of the birds to the ground and some deep into the bushes to get away from it. The wind had blown hard for about four of the previous days and I knew there was only a short window that morning when the winds weren’t going to be a problem before they started back up. I might have missed out on the gale force winds if I hadn’t been delayed 45 minutes by the road construction.

I did find some hummingbirds feeding on the nectar of Black Twinberry Honeysuckles and I think the only reason they were still active during those strong winds is that they have to feed no matter what the weather conditions are or they starve.

Of the hundred or so images I took of the male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds in that small and very windy area I only liked this one photo. The rest of the photos I took were either a blurry mess because of the wind blowing the birds or my lens hood around, or the birds had their backs to me as they fed and didn’t show their faces or when the hummingbirds could actually perch I had out of focus branches in front of the them. When the wind kicked into an even higher gear I knew it was time to head home to rinse the dust out of my eyes.

I worked hard to get just one Broad-tailed Hummingbird photo I that am happy with. Frustrations like these are all part of being a bird photographer. Some days there aren’t any frustrations and some days are chock-full of them. I still love what I do.

Life is an adventure and not all of it is smooth sailing. Stay safe.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Broad-tailed Hummingbird photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos.