Costa'a Hummingbird

I was putting up the outside Christmas lights the other afternoon. I had just moved the ladder close to the hummingbird feeder when all of a sudden this hummingbird zipped all around me and started feeding a foot away from my head at the feeder. I had never seen a Costa's Hummingbird and was blown away by it's beauty. It has a dark purple crown and throat with a long purple gorget reaching almost to it's wing. I went in, got my camera and tried to take a picture. This picture doesn't do it justice. It is much more gorgeous in real life. Jules came home. I called him over and we just stood there with these little hummers zipping and dive bombing all around us.

This is a female Anna's hummingbird. The Anna's males have a bright red head and throat. Sometimes you don't see the red until it is sparkling in the sun.