Hummingbird in Snow

Most Germans think of hummingbirds as tropical creatures so its surprising to see them in Vancouver. Ever since I found out that some of them even stay here over winter I wanted to take a photo of one in the snow. During our Christmas visit in Victoria this wish came true. When I woke up on Christmas Day a white blanket of snow covered the garden I got my camera gear quickly ready before all melted away. And sure enough, hummingbirds were already up and busy at the feeder!

Mexico - Paragliders and Monarch Butterflies

This year we made the trek to Valle de Bravo in a group of 7 Canucks. We rented house with big rooms and a nice sundeck for great views over the city. A cool place to watch the fireworks for the Lady of Guadalupe festivities on December 12 (and since the Mexicans like their fireworks, they start a week earlier and nights are a bit noisy). Flying conditions were great and many hours of airtime and cross-country kilometers were accumulated, including to 'new -to-me' locations Los Saucos and the antenna spot. And it was nice too to meet our Norwegian friend again.

We took a day off from flying and visited the Monarch butterflies that spend the winter in the nearby mountains. When we hiked up the mountain in the morning most butterflies were still sitting on branches and stems of trees but as it warmed up more and more of them took to the air. We hiked back down in a river of orange butterflies.