Seasonal changes

 

And so it begins, in a parking lot, no less.

Today's quote:

While it is not difficult to appreciate that large, powerful fliers such as geese, swans, cranes and even ducks and shorebirds can make intercontinental flights, it is not quite so easy to comprehend that this twice-yearly routine is also followed by small birds such as sparrows and finches. As for hummingbirds — such tiny scraps of life and tied to a lifestyle that requires frequent energy-rich meals — it seems inconceivable. . .  Rufus hummingbirds nesting along the southern coast of Alaska regularly spend the winter in Mexico, some 2,000 miles away: a few stay in the very south of Texas and along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The calliope hummingbird travels much the same route and, at 0.1 ounce is the smallest long-distance migrant in the bird world.
        - Robert Burton, The World of the Hummingbird

As quoted in The Heron Dance Art Journal