Hummingbird Michigan – Smallest Fastest Bird

November 28, 2013 by iaustin

Hummingbird Michigan – Smallest Fastest Bird

Archilochus colubris

Michigan Hummingbird is the teeny weeny, itsy bitsy, tinniest, miniaturist, pee wee of all birds. Yes, the Hummingbird is itty-bitty, minature tinny, littlest, smallish, pocket-sized, mico, mini of a birdie.

Small But F-a-s-t! I Do Mean Fast! –
The Hummingbird is fast. Hypersonic in fact. It’s a little speedball, can move like mad. It’s agile, brisk, quick and swift. It is to fast to see, just a blur if right in front of me. It’s a jiffy dot with wings, moving in a blink from place to place in nothing flat. Hummingbirds move at breakneck speed, are fast as lightening, dashing, flashing, quick as crazy. See this photo… Rudy Throated Hummingbird

Humminbird – Full Spread

The Hummer can zoom to and fro smooth as quick silver, faster than Sammy Davis, quiet as a mouse. It will zip, zip, zip from pedal to pedal, seeking what it may find. Nectar here, nectar there, from bloom to bloom; darting in and out.

Hummingbird

The Hummingbird is faster than Gun-Smoke, quicker than Sun-Dance Kid. I draw my guns, point it to the tip of your nose, slap your face, and re-holster all before the word… “Draw.” Or, should I say, all before the letter “D” is pronounced.

Hummingbird Pictures – Resting on Hosta

Yes, I’m fast, faster than a speeding bullet, an 8 armed ocotups, a rat-trap, a blink, a wink, much quicker than a finger snap. I’m faster than Mohammad Ali, quicker than his fastest jab. He go “jab-jab”, I go… “buzz-saw” (1000 jabs to his one). Blistering quick, instantaneous fast, I’m double-quick, sudden-swift, the winged wonder of birds.

I might be small, but I’m faster than them all, that’s why “I am Legend”, and they call me “The Hummer.”

Ruby throated Hummingbird – Nectar Extractor.

All About the Red Throated Hummingbird
Nature Photography – Michigan Bird Identification
Photo Taken: Michigan Wetland

Family: Trochilidae
Name: Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Archilochus colubris

Appearance: The Michigan Ruby Throated Hummingbird is a 4 inche bird with, green plumage, white under body, and red throat..
Adult: Color is metallic green, female is green without the red throat.
Flight Characteristics:
Quick blurry fast beats, smooth continual flaps when in flight. The Red Throated Hummingbird is a fast and swift flier, can abruptly change directions on a dime.
Habitat: The Hummer prefers of course small inland water reservoirs, lakes, ponds and wetlands, parks, and back yards.
Nesting: Hummingbirds will construct nest made of grasses and line with down. Nests are minarature deep pocked cups.
Incubates 2 whitish eggs for appx 13-16 days.
Mating Habits: The Common Mallards mate for extended periods.
Feeding: Uses its long beak and tongue to draw nectar from flowers.
Call: Sharp chip.
Migration: Travels a remarkable 500 miles to South America in late fall October.

Bird Conservation in Michigan
Michigan Bird Conservation Initiative

Department of Natural Resources
Check the Cornell University Department of Natural Resources for Attracting Hummingbirds to your yard., Learn More… Attracting Hummingbirds

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Nature Photography by Ike Austin – Michigan
Photography that is Therapy for the Soul
Michigan Birds

Nature Photography by Ike Austin – Michigan
Photography that is Therapy for the Soul

Michigan Birds

National Geographic

2011 Editors Choice Winning Photo

National Geographic 2011

View Entry on NG website… NG Contest Winners

To purchase Photo Art… DayStarBooks Gallery

To Purchase the I can Make It Fine Art Print… Dialog With Nature

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Birding Associations and Organizations
This Weeks Honorable Mention:

Michigan Audubon Society
Purpose: Michigan Audubon connects birds and people for the benefit of both through conservation, education, and research efforts in the state of Michigan. Read More Here… Michigan Audubon ORG

Nature Photography – by Ike Austin
Nature Photography that is Therapy for the Soul

Monarch Butterfly – Michigan

November 10, 2013 by iaustin

Monarch Butterfly – Michigan

The Most Beautiful Stained Glass Hand Crafted Sculptured Monarch?

In one of my many excursions into the hidden forest of Jimme’ I would often find myself taking a turn and walking down an unplanned path. The path I chose this day was narrow, with tall grasses and loose foliage hanging along both sides of the ever narrowing trail.

It was a dull lit day with a sustained overcast due to endless clouds that covered the sky. As I continued further my attention was drawn just up the trail to some movement on my left. Slowly moving closer, I noticed a small repetitious fluttering motion, I could see that it was a Monarch Butterfly (the trained eye would identify this butterfly as a Viceroy-distinguished by the black line across the bottom wings.)

Monarch Butterfly Finger Pointing Toward the Sky

I immediately began snapping as many photos as I could because it was rare for a Monarch/Viceroy to allow me to get so close and not be spooked by my presents.

Occasional sun-rays would penetrate the clouded overcast and provide periods of welcomed sunlight.

After returning home and starting to review the photos, I did not notice anything striking about the butterfly. However, when my wife looked at the photographs she got rather excited. She asked… “doesn’t this branch look like a hand and the butterfly are sitting on the tip of the index finger?”

On my second look at all the photos, yes indeed, the branch does look like a hand and it does look like the Monarch was perched on the tip of a finger pointing skyward.

The whole scene, with the sunlight serving to back-light the butterfly wings, looked more like a handcrafted, stained glass artist sculpture.

A Most Beautiful Monarch Butterfly Scene

Earth Nations – Dialog With Nature

November 3, 2013 by iaustin

Earth Nations – Dialog With Nature

Other Nations, Other Kingdoms – Geese and Herons

Messages From Nature | In the Silence
A sunny, but rather chilly morning with a slight breeze… I stood in the hidden forest of Jimmie’ on a small knoll looking out pass several large trees. My sight fixated on a large gaggle of geese off in the distance, numbering in the hundreds, some on land, others waddling about on the seashore.

My attentions drifted further down the shoreline, where I noticed an equally large gathering flock of herons. I observed both colonies of birds the geese and herons, for several moments as each group interacted among themselves. Both groups of birds with vary different characteristics are sharing and occupying the same space, time, and resources without laying claim to territory.

diversity earth nations 1

Then as a common occasion, the voice of silence speaks directly to my mind. Such times the River’s Sky takes such opportunity to dialog on undiluted truths… “these are kingdoms, different kingdoms side-by-side sharing the same water, yet they seek not to exterminate each other.”

diversity earth nations 2

I understood this statement to mean these birds are representations of kingdoms that are not of earth, but, the kingdoms are of another place much different from the volatile kingdoms of earth. In my many descent-level travels, I witnessed such a diverse kingdom once. Its empire stretched beyond its solar system and the inhabitants occupied every planet, asteroid, and moon. They were benevolent and conciliatory in their actions; the most powerful toward the lesser; the musk-ox thunderously stomped along the outer edge of galactic devices in its movement, kept a keen eye on the lowly prairie dog to be unharmed.

Here, kingdoms of earth are quite the opposite; forged by size, shape, and color of men. All religions, all kingdoms of earth and their proposed treaties for peace represent covert continual deceit, declaration of silent murder genocide, a perpetual existence that seeks to exterminate all other kingdoms fueled by religion and color of men? In testament to this statement is countless glorious ruins, ancient & modern, from the bottom of the sea, and found on every continent. Here in plain site, across eons of time, lay all the evidence… that only cannibalistic kingdoms inhabit earth, all the plundered ruins of past and pillage of current nations (the stronger pillaging the weak) support this claim.

Stolen Titles – All earth kingdoms proclaim the title of “Nation;” but does the historic blood signature bare this out? Or, following a long trail of earth’s blood signature we can conclude… earth is not the place as some claim it to be. This place called earth, bares a stolen title in resemblance only of another far away place also known as… “The Earth.” In this far away place, the geese co-exist with the herons.

All earths are not equal.

In silence I hear deeper truth

— ThirdSon and the River’s Sky

Nature Photography – by Ike Austin

Nature Photography that is Therapy for the Soul

ThirdSon and the River’s Sky

ThirdSon and the River’s Sky

As a kid, I spent an enormous amount of time down by the river. I was drawn like a magnet to the many sounds of nature that filled the air-the tides rumbling ashore, the faint call of seagulls echoing in the distant background. I would remain there all day under the pretense that I was fishing. I would walk the shores for miles, moving from one spot to the next. I later discovered that the sky above this river was alive.
Read More Here

Dialog with Nature

Nature – Teaches the Soul

Monthly Archives: November 2013

Hummingbird Michigan – Smallest Fastest Bird