Summer Porch Textures

From my summer porch, I observe much of what’s going on around me without necessarily being seen. Since we can’t see our human neighbors through the trees, animals and plants become the subjects of my voyeuristic tendencies. When I saw this little hummingbird resting on the porch railing, I had time to go inside and fetch my camera. From its pudgy body shape and its slow movements, it appeared to be an adolescent that had recently left its nest to learn the ways of the world. Adults have much sleeker bodies and move so fast that it is difficult to get decent pictures.

This little fellow seemed to have no fear and allowed me to come quite close. Eventually, it flew from the flaky railing to a lemon-colored day lily and nestled against its smooth, cool petals.

I love the contrast between the soft and somewhat tussled feathers and the sleek flower petals. I can feel those textures on my fingertips.

When I saw one of our cats coming close to investigate, I waved my arms at the birdie and it flew across the yard to feed on phlox flowers there.

Even though the colors look different from the first few pictures, you can recognize the fellow from the strange little white feathers sticking up from its back. Here it is looking much more like its adult version.

It finally came to rest on the spiky flower head of echinacea. To me it feels more like sitting on a pin cushion! From there, the bird chirped as if calling out to its parent: “Feed me, feed me – I am tired of doing it all on my own. This is not as much fun as I thought it would be.” While a few adult hummers flew by, none of them stopped to respond to the little one. What a vulnerable time for this youngster who doesn’t know yet that cats are not your friends.

Eventually, it disappeared and has not returned – unless it metamorphosed into an adult so quickly that I can no longer differentiate it from the others that land on our hummingbird feeder. The picture below was taken when one of them hovered near the feeder and cast its shadows against the soffit board.

The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Textures.