Bird Brains

Phoenix from ~8' away.

Phoenix remains skittish, though with the time I spend with him he is gradually learning to ignore the guy behind the camera and go about his business.  This evening he actually drank from the feeder less than 3 feet from a friend, me, my wife and our two dogs.  A surprise, but given that we were near his food source for a while maybe not so much; desperate times call for desperate measures and I'm sure he was getting thirsty.

While I can't say that he's a pleasure to work with (a la Green Light), he is proving to be reliable, patient, wonderfully curious and willing to push himself a little each day.  I guess, after re-reading my last sentence, I can say that he is a pleasure to work with.  But in a much different way than his predecessor.  Phoenix has pushed me in terms of my approach to him and hummingbirds in general.  No easy ride with him, but the pay off is that I'm learning.  Go figure.