Creatures that Fly Part II

Who doesn't love bee balm? This is Monarda fistulosa
'Claire Grace', being visited by a silver spotted skipper.

The focus isn't the best but I like this image anyway.

Hummingbird moths love bee balm too.

Carpenter bee feeding on Monarda x 'Raspberry Wine'

Goldfinches love to eat Verbena bonariensis seeds. I am
always surprising these little guys when I walk out the front door.

There is an indigo bunting and a blue grosbeak that spends most evenings singing near the big
perennial bed. I finally got some shots of the indigo bunting singing at the top of a blackgum.

Male blue grosbeak perched at the top of a young
Prunus mume at the northern end of the big bed.

Look what I found nearby! A baby blue grosbeak. The past few days the whole entourage, parents
and babies, have been travelling around in the dense cover between the horse pastures and the house.

They are all very vocal and highly visible, with their loud calls and the characteristic way they flip their tails. But they stay in such dense cover that my huntress cat couldn't even be bothered to get up off of the driveway to take a look. She finds cotton rats to be easier prey.

I wish I'd had a camera to record the following: last night I was out watering some zinnias I'd just put in, when a female hummingbird zoomed by to feed on the summer phlox. She looked at the spray from the garden hose and judged it too harsh. So I angled the spray up to make it softer, and boy was that the ticket. She flew back and forth under the spray a few times, then perched atop a rose bush and proceeded to take a very long bath. She rubbed all over the foliage like a cat. She ruffled her wings and tail feathers and spread them all out. She was so cute. It was hysterical. Finally she zoomed toward me, gave a little bow as though to say thank you, and flew off.

Hummingbirds have so much personality.