hummer sticking out tongue

A 2nd (and hopefully better!) edit of my favourite hummingbird as she returned to her nest but stuck her tongue out at me first! Seconds after this shot was taken, she flew directly at my face but made a course change before impacting my nose to a location right over my head – where she fed her two fledglings within my reach. She and I had gotten to know each other over the previous few months so she trusted me with the location of her nest and young on the last day they gathered there. All abandoned the nest immediately after that last feeding.

Weedy Field is a place between two parking lots in a rapidly growing area outside Sacramento, California. It’s full of wildlife, some of which has come to know and trust me. I never had a name for Zip’s mom because I was new to the ‘field’ when I met her. She was high atop a tree and singing loudly. In fact, she taught me the sounds to make to call hummingbirds to me. Once we were acquainted, she’d usually fly towards me when leaving her perch, something I’ve never gotten used to. LOL! Even when protected by a Nikon D80 and a Nikkor 70-300mm lens between my face and her beak, it was always shocking to see how close these birds will come to your nose. If one had a “bad fly day”, you’ve have your own custom backwards beak somewhere on your face! :-D