HUMDINGER !

Humdinger: noun : a striking or extraordinary person or thing: (1904)

It was an extraordinary event that I was able to capture pictures of the Hummingbird that visited the Monarda (Bee Balm) this morning. 

I was on the deck taking in the many sights around me,  butterflies, birds, chipmunks, and rabbits when I heard a loud call from a Bluejay high on the pine branch . He flew away too fast for a picture, much to my dismay, but something else caught my eye by the Monarda, and my camera and I were at the ready.

"Have you ever observed a humming-bird moving about in an aerial dance among the flowers - a living prismatic gem....it is a creature of such fairy-like loveliness as to mock all description."  

~W.H. Hudson,Green Mansions

There are three kinds of Hummingbirds that are usually seen in Massachusetts from May to mid-September:

~Ruby-throated Hummingbird

~Rufous Hummingbird 

 ~Allen's Hummingbird

All three of the males have brightly colored throats but females do not. 

I believe this bird to be a female Rufous Hummingbird. In some of the pictures you can see black streaks mixed in with the white at her throat. And her feathers and crown are the same green.

"Ruby-throated females have white feathers that cover their throats. Rufous females have white feathers covering their throats as well, but they also have dark colored feathers streaking throughout the white feathers. Female Allen's Hummingbirds also have white feathers covering their throats, but also have red feathers that create spots throughout their white throats. "