Yesterday and last night, hurricane Irene slowly passed along the Virginia coast on its way to the northeast. We experienced a lot of rain during the day and evening and significant winds and wind gusts last night. By this morning, it was over, the sun was out and the birds were back at our bird feeder.

During the rain yesterday, I photographed “wet” birds. The hurricane did not seem to impact their appetite. In fact, there seemed to be a feeding frenzy at times. Maybe, they were preparing for the storm. Various images of the birds follow. Be sure to see the last image–it is my favorite of the day.

In the above image, you can see rain drops falling while the male Ruby-throatded Hummingbird shook off some of the rain. Notice how his head and beak are parallel to the falling rain. That’s not a coincidence. This hummingbird, and the others, were constantly looking directly into the falling rain.

In this photo, my speed light (with Better Beamer attached) highlighted the hummingbird’s ruby colored throat.

During the rain, the hummingbirds, when not flying, sat on the branches looking skyward letting the rain run down their bodies from head to tail. Their behavior in the rain seemed a bit odd, but I am sure it had a purpose.

Above, the male hummingbird was stretching upward keeping an eye out for the other hummingbirds. This particular hummingbird was very aggressive and was regularly chasing away the other hummingbirds from “his” feeder.

Above, I captured a shy Cardinal peering out from behind some leaves in a tree.

The above images, a young Red-bellied Woodpecker was waiting for his turn at the feeder.

And above, a Downy Woodpecker also waits for its turn.

Hopefully, you made it to the bottom of this article to see the above photograph. Although I captured some good hummingbird and other bird photos yesterday, the above image is my favorite. It is a female House Finch feeding her fledgling.

It might have been a wet and miserable day up and down the east coast, but it was a good day for photographing birds in the rain.