Anna and Rufous in Richmond Nature Park

Whenever I visit Vancouver, I’d go to Richmond Nature Park to see my avian friends, the hummingbirds there. Anna’s I’d seen before but still not met Rufous yet. Feeders provide the essential food they need and the small sanctuary is their haven for frolicking fun. I wasn’t fast enough to capture them with my camera as they play tag, but I was able to catch them while they were feeding or staying put on a branch for a few seconds.

I’d only seen Anna’s Hummingbird there before. Each time I come back I learn something more. Here’s a little tidbit from Bird Note I found today: “Anna’s Hummingbird was named for Princess Anna de Belle Massena. John James Audubon himself was charmed by her, but it was actually naturalist René Primevère Lesson who named the bird in her honor.” Just learn too that Anna’s Hummingbird is Vancouver’s official City Bird. A couple photos of Anna’s:

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But it’s meeting Rufous for the first time that makes my trip memorable this time. At first, I thought Rufous was a namesake like Anna, but actually it refers to the bird’s colour, reddish brown:

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What caught my attention was its iridescent, bright orange neck plumage, called gorget (pronounced gor-jit, gorgeous indeed.) It shone like a metallic glare when I saw it, like a knight’s shining armour around the neck, something that these very inadequate photos can’t reflect:

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But it’s not always orange, with different angles of sunlight, it can be totally brown or even black:

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And I saw it change from black to yellow and then to orange almost at the same time as the bird moves its head ever so slightly, simply fascinating:

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And if you look carefully at the gorget, you can see all three colours here in this picture below, and no, it’s not being stabbed or hooked, just perching on a bar:

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Again, Mary Oliver’s line comes back to me:

“… I have always known you are present in the… wings of birds.” 
–– from the poem ‘Six Recognitions of the Lord’

I can say it again, substituting ‘wings’ with ‘every single feather.’

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Related Post on Ripple Effects:

Anna’s Hummingbird: A Lesson in Smallness

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Arti

If she’s not birding by the Pond, Arti’s likely watching a movie, reading, or writing a review. Creator of Ripple Effects, bylines in Asian American Press, Vague Visages, Curator Magazine.

10 thoughts on “Anna and Rufous in Richmond Nature Park”

  1. I’ve never seen a Rufous: at least, that I know. The details of its color-changing feathers are fascinating. How great that you were able to get such fine photos. With hummingbirds, I’ve always found that luck plays as great a role as skill, particularly given my smaller lenses and slower camera. That said, you were very lucky indeed, and skilled enough!

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    1. These photos are so inadequate. I don’t have a powerful tele lens (not enough for birding anyway) that’s why they are so blurry as I couldn’t get close to birds, you know. Anyway, the changing in colours can’t be captured in still photos. But these are the best I have taken, leaving room for your own imagination. 😉

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  2. Yay for beautiful hummingbirds! One flitted through the garden here the other day, pausing to inspect a few plants that have not begun blooming yet, then zipped away. It all happened to so fast the bird was gone before I could even get excited about having a hummingbird visitor.

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      1. I’m pretty sure we have the ‘Anna’. We have the ruby throated one, an orange throated one, one with a mostly black head. Does that make sense. We haven’t identified them with their proper names.

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        1. Your hummingbirds must be as common as our woodpeckers here in Alberta. I only know about the Anna’s and Rufous and I have to come out to Richmond to see them. 😉

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  4. I’m so glad you got out there and had such fabulous sightings (and the photos to go with them.) Rufous, in particular, I find especially fabulous. Well done, my friend!

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