A Cordial Anna's Hummingbird and Others

On Wednesday, June 26th, 2026 I walked through Black Lake Meadows Reserve in Olympia looking for Cedar Waxwings to photograph. It was a warm day and after an hour I was ready to leave because the waxwings weren’t visible through the leaves on the trees. As I stood in a clearing, feeling somewhat frustrated by the heat and lack of visible birds, an Anna’s Hummingbird flew up. She looked at me, gave a small chirp of acknowledgment and proceeded to feed on blackberry flowers, 12 feet in front of me. She watched me photograph her as she fed, not in the least bit nervous or afraid of me. This turned into one of those special moments that bring a feeling of complete peace, where I am sharing the space with the birds and they are giving me the gift of letting me photograph them while we share a few moments together. I left with some beautiful photographs and a feeling that the morning had been redeemed by a cordial hummingbird.

No male Anna’s Hummingbirds showed up at Black Lake Meadows that day but since Anna’s Hummingbirds are year round residents in Washington state, as well as in California, Oregon, Arizona and British Columbia, they are easy to see. I haven’t found male Anna’s to be as cordial as the female Anna’s I encountered that day at Black Lake Meadows, but they are certainly stunning when their gorgets are lit up by the sun.

I visited the U.C Davis Hummingbird Garden in CA last week and saw many Anna’s, both male and female, competing for nectar in the abundant flowering plants. I also saw Black-chinned Hummingbirds in the Davis garden and I’m sure they found the Anna’s Hummingbirds to be anything but cordial, as the most intense completion seemed to be between those two species. Trying to photograph them as they chased each other, I was happy to see that I got a photo of a Black-chinned and an Anna’s squaring off. It was hard to tell who was the aggressor until I saw another photo that showed the smaller Black-chinned in pursuit of the Anna’s. I’m attaching both photos here, even though they aren’t particularly sharp, because they capture a little of the frenetic hummer action!