When I went to the English Country Garden to try my best to photograph the hummingbirds  all of my problems were exasperated by the incredible winds. If the hummingbird landed on a branch in the sun, as it did from time to time, it was only for a brief moment. And then, as often as not, the wind moved the branch a great distance and the bird somehow managed to hang on for dear light. Of course, by then, the camera lens was no longer pointed at the bird, but that darned tree again.

This was the most amazing race of technologies.  The Bird technology  was holding its own however. It would alight on a branch or hover in front of a flower for just the briefest moment before moving on. I was profoundly challenged to keep up. The John Neufeld technology was not working so great. I was in the real  amazing race. And most I was losing.

Added to that, however, the birds had one flaw which made it almost impossible to grab an image in focus.  They would constantly be chasing each other. These tiny hummingbirds are amazingly territorial. Even though there was an abundance of nectar—the nectar of the Gods, yet each bird would try to chase away each competitor. That just  showed they have evolved. Don’t let any other bird get your nectar!  Even if it means they were wasting an in incredible amount of time in which they could be fuelling up, they  were instead chasing the competition away. This was insanity.

This was insane.  Each bird in the garden could easily find plenty of flowers for itself. Hummingbirds are the tiniest birds in the western hemisphere.  A baby hummingbird is about as heavy as a post-it note! As soon as they can fly, they are constantly on the move.  They stop for very short and infrequent rest stops. Like this bird posing for me in the sun. Mocking me and my feeble efforts.