Caught by surprise

I never ever just sit and watch birds. I'm always watering or something. But yesterday we got a lovely half inch of rain so I decided to just chill and watch birds. After about two minutes of doing that, I decided to try for Lucifer display shots. So I set my camera on a faster speed and auto focus in hopes of better catching the action. Then I saw that the displaying was occurring constantly near the feeder under the pecan tree. So I proceeded to go sit back there. No sooner did I sit down and start tinkering with the camera settings again than I noticed a female hummingbird perch in a tree near me. I rather unconsciously noted the color of the back was a sort of blue-ish green, but didn't take real notice until it flew toward the feeder. That's when my brain kicked into gear... the sound... the back color. Instantly I realized it was a Broad-billed Hummingbird!

And knowing that any second another hummer dominating that feeder might chase it away for good, I had to document it as best I could, with no clue what my camera settings were at that second. Only an hour later did I discover I had set it on auto-focus. Because I shoot in manual 99% of the time, I struggled against the auto, trying unsuccessfully to focus manually. Manual would have been better probably, but since it was on auto, it would have been best to let the camera do its thing. And the ISO was way too high for that deep shade. Also the camera was accidentally bumped to one shot, so I was trying desperately to make it shoot continuously. What a comedy!

The bird never returned but I did at least document it. Barely. So it could have been worse.

I located a Turquiose-tipped Darner today at the back water feature. Mac's photo is so much better than mine that I'll forego posting mine and use his. He's so sweet to share his pics with me and I'm so envious that his are so much better.