Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Wow! Have we got peppers!

Italian relleno

Tiburon

Astry

The plants are just bending over with the weight of all those peppers!

Today is a very gray and rainy day. We've been having a rather wet and cool summer--the coolest and wettest since we moved here. Usually we get almost no rain all summer long. This August we've had 1 or 2 rainy days a week and the temps have been hovering in the 70s. Already the days are markedly shorter and the nights are getting cooler. In an attempt to get as many peppers to full size and to turn red, I've started pinching off any new flowers that I see. I'm hoping we get a mini heat wave in the next week or so.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

More Hummingbird Sightings!

We've noticed the hummingbirds zooming around the hillside garden a few times. Our neighbor even said she and her girls noticed hummingbirds in our lovely garden. I've tried a few times without luck to get photos of them. Of course dead batteries in the camera once or twice didn't help.

This morning, after walking Diva Dog, I noticed two hummingbirds flying around. We carefully went inside, hoping not to disturb them too much. I got the camera and stationed myself at the side window in the bedroom which overlooks the hill. With some patience and a lot of luck, I managed to snap these photos.

Look closely at the right side of the blue-black sage and to the left of the agastache, roughly in the center of the picture.




Here's a close up of the hummingbird. You can almost make out the wings.



Here are two more photos of the hummingbird, again at the blue-black sage, but this time on the far left.



The wings are a blur, but the body, face and beak are much clearer. I belive this is an Anna's Hummingbird.


I'm looking forward to using the new tripod and testing the shutter speed settings on the camera to hopefully get more photos. Wish me luck!