Heavenly Gaze

“Heavenly Gaze”
Judy Royal Glenn Photography

Male rufous hummingbird

I had the privilege of photographing the rufous hummingbird this past weekend at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. It was an amazing day!

My research was done and knew where I wanted to photograph in the Los Angeles/Anaheim area; now I had to find the hummingbirds. With 127 acres to meander through, I knew it might be difficult, but I asked the Lord to help me find them. I was on a tight schedule, only one day to shoot and about 6 hours.

As soon as I walked into the garden, I heard the unfamiliar sounds of hummingbirds not found in Georgia and it excited me! Their calls and wings make amazing sounds—much different than the ruby-throated hummingbird.

I photographed this fellow for two hours. He camped out on the yucca plant and defended the area. After talking to a few people who live out there, they mentioned he was on the same plant last year. One man told me I was lucky to find him because of the drought. He said usually they were everywhere.

Instead of feeding on the flowers frequently, he turned to eating small bugs non-stop. He would land on a branch, fly up to get eat a bug, and repeat.

Maybe one day I can return to this wonderful garden. I barely scratched its surface.

Location: Arcadia, California