A-Train’s Vegas Highlight Reel; Rare Closeup Look at Hummingbird

One of my favorite moments was when I managed to capture a decent shot of a Costa's Hummingbird at The Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve in Vegas last week. 

These little rascals move so fast that it's very difficult to capture anything other than a blur when they're mid flight. To give you an idea how fast this bird moves, the appendage you see on it's left side is not a wing, but rather, it's tail. They shift it that way to attain lateral movements. So cool to see from just a couple feet away.

This picture is a bit darker, but I'm adding it so you can differentiate the normal wing action from the tail flip in the previous shot.

Here's a far less dramatic and far more typical bird picture from my trip. It's an American Avocet. You'll probably have to squint a little to see it, so, I'm adding a video from someone named SMGoss who has captured footage that does it far more justice than my 'view from outer space'.