Photo Essay: Feathers!

A loud humming sound is heard. The sound is close to that of a bumblebee but much deeper and stronger. Nearby, a tiny green bird is darting in an erratic manner from flower to flower. Stopping, backing up, moving side to side, the ruby-throated hummingbird finally stops and hovers near a petunia, before injecting his long tongue into the flower. In only a brief time, he laps up the nectar by using what amounts to a micro-pump tongue. He then retracts his tongue into a special groove, which wraps the tongue around his skull.

During the evening six inches of new snow has fallen, and more continues to fall, creating a scene of intense beauty but presenting a hardship for the many bird species who inhabit the pine forests of North Carolina. Here, a blue jay hunkers down against a fallen branch, his mouth open in a display of force and defiance. Although a beautiful bird, the blue jay is known to drive off other birds that come near its food.

In a low tree among the honeysuckle, bathed by dappled lighting, is a nest made of twigs, dry grasses and mud. Inside the nest is a brood of four little ones waiting for the mother robin to return with the nourishment they eagerly seek. The American robin is a signal of spring in the mountains.