Earlier this week I spent a few days in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Richmond Nature Park was high on my agenda since I ‘discovered’ the place last time I visited and found it to be a haven for hummingbirds. This time, I’m not disappointed as I’ve seen many albeit it’s hard to take a good photo of them, for they are small and ultra fast.
Every hummingbird is a miracle in itself. They are the smallest of birds, most species measuring 3-5 inches (7.6 -10 cm) in length and about 0.1 oz. (3 – 4 grams) in weight. The bee hummingbird of Cuba is the smallest bird in the world, only 2 inches (5 cm) in length and weighs 0.07 oz (1.95 gram).
According to World of Hummingbird, depending on their activity, hummingbirds’ wing beats can range from 70 to 200 times per second (when diving). And they can dive! Up to 60 miles per hour. Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly forward, backward, hover and stay still in the air, fly sideway, and even upside down.
During migration, the Rufous Hummingbird fly from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska to breed, that’s nearly 4,000 miles. These small but powerful flyers can travel as much as 23 miles in one day. As they cross the Gulf of Mexico they may cover up to 500 miles at a time. Their average speed in direct flight is in the range of 20-30 mph (32 – 48 km/hr), and up to three times that fast during courtship dives. Interesting info. here.
There are numerous fascinating facts to be found online, but nothing beats the actual experience of watching these tiny birds flapping their wings to stay still in the air like a motorized flapping cross, or see their iridescent feathers shimmering in the morning light. They are just too fast for me to take photos, especially when darting in midair. I could only capture some while they were sipping nectar from a feeder, or perching on a branch.
When I visited Richmond Nature Park earlier this week, I only found Anna’s Hummingbirds, although the signs indicate Rufous also hang out there. From the info I’ve gathered, Anna’s Hummingbirds now don’t migrate but settle in the Pacific Coast of North America, from California to B.C. in Canada. So there I was, encountering these beautiful, small miracles that morning.
Here’s a male Anna’s Hummingbird staying still:
the female or immature ones are mostly green without the fuchsia red on their head and neck, but their iridescent plumage and the colourful spots on the head are a sight to behold:
“… I have always known you are present in the… wings of birds.”
–– Mary Oliver, from the poem ‘Six Recognitions of the Lord’
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Ripple Effects 
Wow, great photos, especially considering how hard it is to capture these birds! Thank you for sharing!
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What a wonderful experience — and what great photos! Just yesterday, I came upon (what I assume to be) migrating hummingbirds at the Brazoria Wildlife Refuge. They had feeders out, and there were a lot of birds. I’ve never spent time trying to identify the species, since I’ve seen so few and found them so hard to observe. But this time I was able to get some photos: good enough to at least make an attempt at identification. I think there might have been two species, although of course I could have been seeing male/female or adult/juvenile distinctions. Once I sort through the way too many photos I took, and get some advice on what I actually saw, I’ll be posting some photos!
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Looking forward to your post! I must say we have very different species and I’d love to see what you have! 🤗
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Such beautiful little birds! and well done on the photos!
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I have never been able to get a good photo of a hummingbird. These are exquisite. And interesting, too!
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Wonderful captures of these sweet little birds!
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I’m sure you have hummingbirds almost all year round in your locale.
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That’s very beautiful – amazing to get such a close up shot and capture the movements to a fraction of a second.
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I must say, Denise, I used a telephoto lens (albeit not a powerful one) and did some cropping to get them look so close. Thanks for stopping by.
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Yes, great photos! I’m lucky enough to see hummingbirds almost every day from June until October because I like red flowers and so do they. When I’m reading, I get alerted to their presence because of the humming sound–often one will come to the hanging baskets of flowers above my head, so I’ve seen them up close.
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How wonderful! What kind of hummingbirds are they?
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Ruby-throated hummingbirds.
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A park in Vancouver, how lovely. Vancouver is one of my favorite places – I wish it were not so far. Your hummingbirds photographs are splendid. You are a skillful photographer to have taken so many pretty pics. I saw a couple of hummingbirds from my window this summer, but so quickly, I never even saw their color.
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Richmond is adjacent to Vancouver. The Nature Park there isn’t large but is a bird heaven especially for hummingbirds. There are feeders just for them. Thanks for stopping by, VB!
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