In the Quiet Place

​     There's something special about finding a quiet place in the garden and just watching a story unfold.  While most of the feeders had been claimed by adult males, there were still a few clusters of flowers that remained available for all the juveniles to fight over.  I selected a location tight against a willow bush and waited for the evening battles to begin.  Slowly they began to arrive one at a time to the garden. Soon the fighting started to intensify as I could hear distance squeaks in the different directions of all the feeders.  It wasn't long before a young male began dancing through the delphiniums right in front of me, desperately seeking out the few flowers that remained.  Occasionally he would head in the direction of one of the feeders, only to be seriously reprimanded by its dominant owner.  Immediately he would be back to his sparse patch of well licked out flowers.  At this point, few flowers were better than no flowers, and it gave him even more reason to viciously defend what little he had when others would try a takeover.  The yard became pretty active, and every hummingbird was defensive over any food source they could find, and eventually would perch as close as they could to make it clear of their ownership.  It was at that point that this young male perched right beside me in the willow bush.  He had a clear view of his island of delphiniums, and would give out a series of squeaks with any approaching bird.
    He gave me several opportunities for photos, and showed very little concern for me but became seriously aggitated with any bird sniffing around his flowers.
N.E. of Edmonton, Alberta. August 2016

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