Rain Soaked Hummingbirds Guarding Feeder

It is definitely the season for Ruby Throated Hummingbirds. While the migration is in full swing along the coast, we are getting progressively more of them in our yard, judging by the number of aerial combats. I watched this resident male perched on the tree about 10 ft from the feeder. Every five minutes or so he would make a pass down to the feeder for a quick sip or simply sit and defend his territory. He always flew back up to this same perch where he would look around for trespassers and flash his colors from a higher vantage. Fluffed up to keep warm in the cool drizzle, he looks very different than usual.

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS - ISO-800, 400mm, f/8, 1/160s, +0.3

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS - ISO-800, 400mm, f/8, 1/160s, +0.3

Several branches up, this female, possibly the mate, remained perched seeming to sleep with her eyes closed most of the time. She neither guarded the feeder nor flew down to feed as frequently.

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS - ISO-800, 400mm, f/8, 1/320s, +0.3

I took these shots with a tripod setup in the living room, pointed out through the open back door, from about 20ft away. The poor lighting made it hard to get images with crisp details due to slow shutter speed. My attempts at using a flash caused unnatural iridescent sheen on patches of body feathers.