This is Flash, one of five Green-breasted Mango hummingbirds that visit our feeder. Actually, we think that Flash has claimed sole proprietorship, although defending his turf is a full-time job.
Even a hard-worker like Flash needs to take a break now and then from fighting and feeding, and his favorite place to pause is on a stick of PVC stored under the eaves of our apartment -- four short feet from where we sit.
Flash seems oddly curious about us, repeatedly turning his head to get a good look at the creatures who fill his juice jug and talk softly to him. Occasionally, on his way back after snacking on tiny flies or chasing an interloper from his manna, he will pause in flight a few feet in front of us, too, giving us a good, but quick, look over. And then there are the fly-bys - the dog-fight skirmishes that take place within inches of our heads - and high-speed excursions through the apartment - in through the open bedroom window, into the living room, and finally back outside through the front door. Flash appears perfectly calm and in control as he passes through, so we've concluded that he knows exactly what he's doing on these little trips. We just hope he snags a little protein along the way.
Today this Blue Cracker butterfly found his way to our place, too. Someone (presumably birds) had poked a large hole in the bottom of one of the plantains we had hung outside to ripen, and Blue, as we call him, stopped by for a taste.
He stayed for close to a half-hour, until I accidentally frightened him and he moved to the hummingbird feeder. Of course, Flash would have none of that, so we bid Blue farewell and invited him to stops by again some time.
Pura Vida
