The Secret Lives of Hummingbirds. Part Three.

Sometimes loves comes in waves.

Other times, it comes in small ripples and there are occasional swells that wash gently over our fickle hearts. Then there are the moments where in the flash of a nanosecond, it hits us and we are done. Swallowed in the deep blue sweet goodness, like a vortex into the ocean of the unknown. 

The later happened today. 

This male hummingbird who has been wreaking havok in my otherwise quiet garden, made me fall in love with him. His ruby red feathers that flashed me days on end, pulled me in, and I fell for him. It was a slow and curious dance. 

Today, he won my heart.

After three weeks of not allowing me into his field, we fell into one another and shared a space that was safe and warm. The remnants of the flower garden are fading hourly and miss Flora is feeding as quickly as she can before she leaves. 

Today he let me in and surrendered to my curiosity and proximity.

I took this image at dusk as the light was shifting into Autumn. 

He will be flying South any day now and is allowing me to get closer with my camera and new lens. It is a Sigma 160-500. I now have countless images of him, his green emerald feathers, white soft chest and his brilliant ruby flashy necklace. 

But what captures my interest the most are his eyes. Here the soul resides. 

Just as when I photograph whales, and dolphins, I always want to see and feel the depth of who I am meeting and what they may have to share with me in that intimate moment. 

So as this secret and almost sacred world of the hummingbird opens to me, bit by bit, I am blessed with these fleeting moments and tender connections between my curiosity and their willingness to be still.