Birding with Mother

This bird stayed high above our heads.  We didn't get a good look.

This bird stayed high above our heads. We didn’t get a good look.

“Eh, Mother, look up there! There’s a hummingbird!”

“Where?”

“There.”

“Where, there?”

“Way up there, see, at the top of that tree. That wee sticking-up bit that looks like a leaf. That’s a hummingbird.”

“How do you know that’s a bird?”

“I saw it land. It was buzzing about — bzz, bzz — and now it’s sitting in that tree. See? I took a picture of it. You can see its beak. But it’s too high up; I can’t see what kind it is.”

“Oh, there it goes.”

“Yep; it’s buzzing round that other tree, now….”

And that went on for a while. We never did get a good look at the hummingbird — but I must say, even at a great distance, they do look rather enchanting, darting about as they do. I’m trying out a hummingbird feeder this week, so I might get a decent shot, yet.

What is it?

Mother’s visiting tomorrow, so today, I’m tidying like mad. No birding for the wicked (or the slobby) — but here are some grainy, long-distance snaps of the WTFerfowl. WTF is that? (I just know it’s something ridiculously common, something I’ve seen a thousand times before — something disguised, perhaps, in its winter plumage, or washed out by poor lighting…but I can’t put my finger on it.)

What the devil is it?

What the devil is it?

If anybody’s out there, and recognises this bird, please help me take the WTF out of WTFerfowl.