Tiny Birds With a Sweet Tooth

Black-Chinned Hummingbirds

The newest addition to the Filming the Feathers video series, as well as to my Photography pages, displays the beautiful black-chinned hummingbirds (Archilochus alexandri) I saw in Arizona April 29-May 3. We visited the copper mining town of Jerome, where a souvenir shop has multiple hummingbird feeders outside, and I got a chance to capture video of the black-chinned as well as a few Anna's hummingbirds.

Most of the photos and videos here, though, come from Camp Verde, Arizona, where my generous hostess made sure the hummingbirds had plenty of sugar water to drink every day in her backyard. And that ensured I had many opportunities to film these gorgeous birds.

We get to see ruby-throated hummingbirds in Central Park feeding on jewel weed, and I will eventually post photos and video of those birds. But for now, I'm happy to present their Western "cousins."

Blooming Arizona

Arizona has a lot of very dry landscape and very hot desert. It also has some exquisitely beautiful flowers, both on the ubiquitous cactuses and in the spritely gardens and near the mountain streams in Scottsdale, Camp Verde, Sedona and Jerome.

I've put together a video photo album of some of my favorite shots of the flora I saw in Arizona (I visited from April 28 through May 4), and added some fun music, called Carry On Bach, by Paul Arden Taylor, performed by the Academy Wind Trio.

Below are four of my favorite still shots from the video. To see all of the shots, visit the Blooming Arizona page.

Spa Time for Cedar Waxwings!

I must have done something right yesterday to get a chance to see a flock of cedar waxwings splash about in the water in the stream just north of Laupot Bridge in Central Park. I had been chasing hawks all day, first in Riverside Park at 116th Street, then at Tompkins Square Park, followed by a break to see a friend's movie, and then off to Washington Square Park. I decided to stop at Laupot to feed the birds before going to the ballet (not Swan Lake, by the way).

Oh, what joy when I saw a flock of at least eight cedar waxwings! And even more joy when they came down to bathe, and I was able to catch their ablutions on video. This, my friends, is the kind of Silly Video I'm trying to make when I go out every day with my camera. I hope you have as much fun watching this as I had watching the waxwings.

The music, which fits as perfectly as I could hope, is by Chopin.

Just a little postscript: As I headed out of the park for Lincoln Center, the sky opened and I got soaked. I wasn't nearly as happy to be wet as the waxwings appeared to be.