A most unusual October here. The rain, the cold... pretty standard fare, but the presence of 4 hummingbirds at one time outside this morning... very cool!

Not the best weather for hummingbird photography, or hummingbirds for that matter, but I did manage to catch a few action shots...

Before the downpour and the only 5 minutes of sunshine we had all day...

Cuphea "Ballistic" - didn't get much attention all summer long, but they couldn't seem to get enough of it today.




Hamelia patens


Cuphea 'David Verity'




And last, but not least... straight out of "Ripley's Believe It or Not"...the extremely rare "Ivory-crowned" Hummingbird


Bud
Southwest Ohio
USDA Plant Zone 6a

Camera: Pentax K20D
Lens: Pentax DA*300 f/4, Sigma 180 f/3.5 Macro
There's 1 or 2 more hummingbird / butterfly pics located here...
http://www.pbase.com/budohio

Those are beautiful! The last shot had me laughing out loud. Sometimes they can be such clowns.

Joan Garvey - Metairie, LA Zone 9

Your rainy day shots are stunning as ever, Bud. The extra shimmers from the wet leaves and flowers add a sparkle to your photos. Happy to hear you still have good action from the hummers this late in the season.

Bud, great pictures, as always!
The last shot of the "punk rock" hummer is particularly intriguing. The white coloration on the head and neck doesn't appear to be pollen, and the bill seems to be slightly up-curved. Are these artifacts of lighting or what you observed?

Lizette, New Orleans, La.
USDA Zone 9

Joan & Allise... thanks! Looks like we still have, at least, 3 as of this morning with another day of heavy rain and flood watches in the forecast.

Lizette - here's another shot of the Billy Idol "optical illusion" hummer... scratchin' an itch... on the back of its head



Bud
Southwest Ohio
USDA Plant Zone 6a

Camera: Pentax K20D
Lens: Pentax DA*300 f/4, Sigma 180 f/3.5 Macro
There's 1 or 2 more hummingbird / butterfly pics located here...
http://www.pbase.com/budohio

Well IT IS almost Halloween!! Priceless.

Pam NJ 6B

Bud Billy Idol is the perfect name for this hummer

I have never seen Cuphea 'Ballistic' so I had to do some checking. I really like the color of those blooms. This is what I found on the Cornell Univ. Dept. of Hort.website about it which may explain why your plant didn't see much action until now http://www.hort.cornell.edu/department/faculty/wmiller/bglannuals/2008/CupheaBallistic.htm

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Bud, that's just too funny! Limber li'l devil, ain't he?

Lizette, New Orleans, La.
USDA Zone 9

Penny/Bud,

Cuphea Ballistic looks like the annuals that Proven Winners has introduced a few seasons ago. I have grown several of them and the hummers ignored them all summer, maybe pickin's are getting slimmer or these juvies aren't as selective? I like the name though, Ballistic! Are you going to grow them agian Bud?

http://www.provenwinners.com/search/?btnglobalsearchform.x=0&btnglobalsearchform.y=0&cx=002434005836988681966%3Asl42cyduzso&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=cuphea#0

Pam NJ 6B

Bud as usual you photos are outstanding. We good a 'young flood' this morning. We sure needed the rain.

Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31