Closer is Better

This winter we have had our hummingbird feeder hanging under our covered patio, which worked well to keep it dry, but the light was wrong to get a good look at the hummers.  With the anticipated arrival of the Rufous Hummingbirds, I wanted to be able to see them better to differentiate between the two, so I moved the feeder out from the patio area to where the light was better.  It was easier to see them, but it took binoculars to be able to discern the differences.  Humming birds are so fast that by the time you get the binoculars on them they can be gone. A couple of days ago I moved the feeder up close to the living room window, which makes it close enough to see them without binoculars.  In fact when I stand next to the window I am literally only a couple of feet away. Now we are noticing details with the naked eye that we never noticed before, like the white eye-ring on this male Anna’s Hummingbird.