IDA GROVE, Iowa, October 1, 2015 — In mid-September, photographer Don Poggensee noticed the migration was underway of hummingbirds coming from far north of Iowa enroute to their winter homes as far south as Central America.

“Most of our summer here, I saw very few hummers around my flowers here in northwest Iowa,” Poggensee wrote to us. “But that all changed in early September.  I keep my feeders up until it really starts to get cold, as the migrating hummers need fuel for their long trip south.”

He also maintains trumpet vines, honeysuckle and blue sage plantings that the hummingbirds love.

The amazing photos he shares below here show “a couple of ruby-throated hummingbirds that I was blessed to work with,” Poggensee said. “It is easy to take images of them at the feeders, but to record them in a natural setting is sometimes a real challenge. They are quick movers, and to get their wingtips sharp in a photo takes good light and a fast shutter speed, or using several flashes to stop the movements.  All of these photos were taken without the use of a flash.”

As always with his work, we are grateful he is willing to let us publish them.

You can write the photographer at donpog@netlc.net or comment here on his work by using the handy form below.