Anna’s Hummingbird. Famosa Slough, San Diego CA

I spent my first morning in San Diego, as I generally do, at Famosa Slough, a urban wetland which is basically between my hotel and the convention center where they hold the San Diego Birding Festival…pretty much in downtown San Diego…or at least in downtown Point Lomas. It is maybe a half mile inland from the San Diego River mouth and the Pacific Ocean, in a little basin with a wide channel flowing out of it. I don’t know the history of the place, but I admire the instincts of those who fought to preserve the wetlands, against what must have been pretty intense pressure to drain and build. It is literally surrounded on all but one side by apartment buildings and condos, and the forth side is bounded by the expressway. My friend Rich came out to San Diego a day early and had already visited Famosa. He emailed to say “your hummingbird is still there.” There are actually at least 2 resident hummingbirds…or perhaps it is more accurate to say that there are two frequented perches. I have no idea if the hummingbirds I see on the those perches year after year, day after day, or moment to moment are always the same hummingbirds. One perch is frequented by Black-chinned Hummingbirds, the western cognate of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and the other is frequented by Anna’s Hummingbirds. Over the years I have noticed that neither species likes to sit facing the sun, so it is difficult at Famosa to get a gorget shot like the one above. Patience. Patience. And more patience. I won’t say luck, because I don’t believe in the stuff, but certainly you have to be in the right place at the right time, and the recipient of a small measure of grace. 🙂 This Anna’s Hummingbird showing the full helmet is the only full gorget shot I got yesterday, and I took a lot of pics!

Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/800th @ ISO 100 @ f6.5. Processed and cropped slightly for composition in Lightroom.