The Blossoms are Still Buzzing

I hope ya’ll aren’t bored of the zinnia blossoms, because they are still buzzing with activity!

Goldfinches are still regular feasters…

…as are an assortment of bees.

And the other day a fresh batch of Spicebush Swallowtails arrived.

The easiest way for me to identify them is because one of their orange spots ( the third from the bottom) is smudged out with blue, although that can be hard to see until I have actually downloaded the pictures!

But out of everyone who frequents the flowers, the female Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the self-appointed sovereign. This warrior queen simply allows no rivals to trespass into her kingdom.

She fiercely guards the feeders that are in the garden…

…always quick to go into combat mode. By the way, you can tell this is a female because she lacks the colorful throat band, and, her tail feathers (which you can see in the pictures above) are white-tipped and rounded instead of dark tipped and pointed.

She also, or course, stands watch over the zinnias themselves. She frequently perches on a stem to watch for intruders…

…and then aggressively flies off after them.

She looks so sweet when she’s just sipping nectar in solitude…

but I guess that just goes to show that looks can definitely be deceiving!

Published by kathydoremus

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Amateur nature "photogriter." One who still marvels at majesty.

11 thoughts on “The Blossoms are Still Buzzing”

  1. Beautiful pictures. It’s so relaxing to watch birds hang out around the feeders. We have 5 feeders, 2 humming bird feeders, & 2 bird baths at our cabin. So relaxing watching them fly around & eat.

  2. Just lovely. I’m just not seeing the amount of activity I expected on my zinnias. Some moths, no butterflies that I’ve noticed, no hummingbirds. Though I do have female hummers at my hummer feeder. On the other hand I have a very active oriole feeder, with all the youngsters sitting around eating to their hearts content.

      1. They arrive here in SE Michigan about the same time as hummingbirds. Grape jelly in the feeder and there they are…mostly the male at first…then them both, and then a break in June/early July and THEN the youngsters come. Sometimes with mom or dad. Sometimes mom or dad feed them at the feeder…and then dad disappears because he hits the road early. I think our dad is already gone. But the young ones stick around another month or so and are real hogs.

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