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Carl and Racine Erland | all galleries >> Birds: Multiple Galleries >> Hummingbird Gallery > Hovering
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7-June-2009 Racine Erland

Hovering

Southern Vancouver Island

Hummingbirds continue to fascinate and challenge us as photographers. Not only are they graceful and beautiful, they are one of the more interesting subjects that we photograph. I was amazed when I read the following information about them at the Hummingbird Society site: "Hummingbirds use spider webs as a source of spider's silk in nest construction, being necessary to bind the nest to the tree branch or other substrate and to hold the nest together. Even so, the hummingbird must be careful when removing the pieces of webbing, for it may become entangled and be trapped there. Spider's silk has a tensile strength comparable to steel on a weight basis. In one report, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird was caught in an active web, and quickly wrapped and encased by the spider, much as an insect might be."


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comment
Michal Leszczynski13-Jan-2011 07:45
Very good timing and exposure control, excellent capture. V.
Guest 10-Jun-2009 23:04
Wonderful capture! beautiful detail on this delicate hummingbird!