Wyoming Hummingbirds is a topic that I'm quite the self-taught fanatic; I've studied the Hummingbirds in the Wind River Canyon for fifteen years and, photographed them digitally for eight summers now.  Yet, even now things happen in the Canyon that are unexpected where my Hummingbirds are concerned.  Last summer Black-chinned Hummingbirds nested in the Wind River Canyon for the very first time, and several pairs are nesting in the Wind River Canyon as I write this blog.  But, something I've hoped I'd live long enough to see has finally happened; Broad-tailed Hummingbirds have finally decided that the Wind River Canyon is a great place to raise a family!

     Every Spring in Wyoming the Broad-tailed Hummingbirds would move through the Wind Broad-tailed Hummingbird, female, Wind River Canyon, WYBroad-tailed Hummingbird "Coming in for a Landing" River Canyon on their way to someplace in the Northwest.  We'd see them as they migrated through, and the male's rocket-like territorial display dazzles like nothing else in the birding world.  They never stayed, and always moved on in a tease for these two Mother Nature fans; this summer something wonderful has happened....several decided that this is a great place to raise Hummingbirds.

     Like most of our Wyoming Hummingbirds, the males are always the most difficult to photograph well; and while I've taken pictures of all of these magical flying jewels, certain goals have yet to be reached (the photos aren't good enough, in my opinion, to be on my website).  But this week I'd like to introduce my readers to someone special, a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird "Coming in for a Landing."  I got a wild creative urge to make her something special, so I worked the file in what used to be called a Selenium print.  It's a type of very old silver printing technique that my Grandfather may have used in his darkroom, but now it's done in the "digital darkroom."  Making the print look like a classic work elevates it to a different place to be sure; Grandpa would have loved it....what do you think?

     The Rufous Hummingbird and the Calliope Hummingbird have always nested in Wyoming and the Wind River Canyon; if you've been counting, that makes four different species of Hummingbirds that now nest in the Wind River Canyon....in Wyoming!  Someone asked me the other day why we have such diversity; I said that these may be the last wild places left in America that can never be developed; their here because this is a good wild place.  Because we are surrounded by the Wind River Indian Reservation, this will always stay a wild place.  

     The last photograph is of a Baby Rufous Hummingbird that was out of the nest for less than a day; he's brand-new to the world and cute as any baby can be.  This photograph was taken at 8:30 in the morning last Thursday July 31.  We were having coffee outside and sitting only six feet away from this tough little male.  Even as I write this, he's still trying to protect this particular feeder; he is getting ready, as all the Wyoming Hummingbirds will have to make a long trip to warmer southern climates.  Keep in mind, as you look at my photo of this flying jewel, that he's smaller than your thumb! Rufous Hummingbird Baby, Wind River Canyon, WyomingOut of the Nest 24 Hours, a Baby Hummingbird Born in the Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.                     The small golden refection, in his tiny little eye, are the tall cliffs across the Wind River lit by the early morning sunshine of the Wind River Canyon.