Magnificent Humminbird and My Favorite Rock

Actually, this species of bird is called the "magnificent hummingbird", it's the rock that's my favorite rock. I like this shot, because it is good at showing the turquoise on the gorget and a little of the blue on the head, and the tail detail is especially nice. However, the lichens and texture on the rock are not particularly what most people want to see on a hummingbird photo. People prefer to see prefer flowers in hummingbird photographs. It's somewhat ironic that in the early spring when many birds are migrating, there are no flowers that I can find at that time of year, at that elevation. The Arizona locations, called "sky islands", where I photograph them don't have flowers until a few weeks later, at the next lower ecosystem, where the devil's walking stick, the thorny ocotillo shrub blossoms . But there is a long history of people in those areas hanging out bird feeders, and this species is a year-round resident in Madera Canyon and in Cave Creek. A few years back, a particularly cold winter killed most of the overwintering magnificent hummingbirds there, however. It's at the extreme north end of their range. The rock is my favorite rock because it holds water, in places, which can attract birds in the desert, and it is in my favorite campsite, where I have returned year after year, sometimes with my parents in the next campsite, to photograph the hummingbirds. That's when my parents seemed happiest, in my memory, and it's a very nostalgic location for me. So it's not necessarily an artistic choice, but it's an interesting choice from a personal point of view.