Fairchild Botanical Gardens, on the outskirts of Miami, provides a butterfly and bird friendly environment which attracts a good variety of species to the various flowering plants. I enjoyed capturing these hummingbirds in the dappled shade of a tall shrubbery, the sunlight highlights the bird nicely against the lush shadowy green background. Alternatively catching the irridescent purple of a male hummingbird in a shaft of sunlight makes a nice picture. The feathers are not pigmented so the radiant colours only show when the sunlight reflects at a certain angle.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird female .
Calliope Hummingbird male - stellula calliope
Calliope Hummingbird male - stellula calliope
Black Chinned Hummingbird subadult - archilochus alexandri
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird female
The Gardens provide a lovely setting for photographing butterflies as well as birds. Here the Monarch is feeding on a flower which complements its glorious colouring.
Feral populations of parakeets thrive in Florida. These Mitred Parakeets are natives of South America but have successfully found a home here.
Feral populations of parakeets thrive in Florida. These Mitred Parakeets are natives of South America but have successfully found a home here.
Mitred Parakeet - aratinga mitrata
And here's another shot of a beautiful male Northern Cardinal sitting on a palm frond, an idyllic scene from the tropics. And now I'll go and have another marguerita to round off a perfect day.
