the Humming-thug

I have a humming-bird feeder outside the window of my bedroom and I love it. Everyday it is visited by humming-birds of all colors and types. There is one bird, in particular, who seems to think he owns the joint. He comes up and drinks a while, then sits on a nearby branch and chases off any other birds that try to take a sip. I call him Paulie (as in Walnuts, not "wants a cracker") I have to admit, he is gorgeous. At first glance, his tiny green body and black head don't look like anything special, but then he'll turn his head to look at me, and the sun hits the feathers on his head in just the right way to show that they are really a brilliant magenta. With a bright flash of color that seems to glow against the browns and greens of the garden, he darts back and forth to the feeder and back to his branch. Of course on the day I took my camera out there, he wouldn't stay still long enough to get a shot. Instead, he flew right up in my face, as if to say (Al Pacino style) "What chu lookin' at? You lookin' at me??" I flinched,as the image of being skewered by that needle-like beak, went through my head. I was, however able to get a few shots of those he "allowed" to stop in for a quick nectar martini at the Bada Bing!