Hummingbirds, as far as I’m concerned, are the most marvelous creatures out there. (Well, them and mariposa lilies, especially Calochortus catalinae .)

So, ignoring all the impending doom for the moment, time for a hummingbird break…

Anna’s hummingbird male, keeping an eye on the competition.

Anna’s male preening on the same tomato cage. It helps to have a neck with 14 vertebrae.

Anna’s hummingbird, warming up in the morning sun by hunkering down on the wooden deck and stretching its wings out. They don’t hover all the time.

Two hummingbirds absolutely furious with each other for sitting in the same shrub. They’re threatening each other by moving their heads back and forth and making ticking noises like an overactive Geiger counter (and probably more in the ultrasonic).

Hummingbirds do a lot of fighting. Mostly, they seem to do nothing but fighting. Cute, but deadly.

A traditional hovering hummingbird at a classic red sage flower.

Traditional hover, but less classic lavender flower. Once they decide that your garden is a good place to look around, they’ll visit anything, including dandelionsand promising-looking bits of old rubber hoses.

Costa’s hummingbird, adult male, at home in the San Diego Zoo hummingbird house.

Anna’s hummingbird, taking a breather on the flowering stalk of a small succulent in a pot, sitting about four feet away on the other side of a screen door.

Allen’s hummingbirds are the other main species we get here on the coast of Southern California. They’re a bit smaller than the Anna’s and even feistier. This one is a female visiting a blue-flowered tree tobacco (Iochroma). (The shrub is in the same family as tobacco, but otherwise has nothing to do with that plant.)

Allen’s juvenile male shrieking defiance at passersby.

The same young male, having a bit of a rest.

More hummingbird pics at my gallery page.

Also some phenomenal ones, by Acreepingmalaise:

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