California Gardening: Hummingbird Adventures #4, 1 by WormsLovSharon

WormsLovSharon wrote:
Good Thread. Sharon from Las Vegas. I have had HB nests the last two years that I knew of and my next door neighbor has had them for several years. We both had archs built into the front facade of our homes and have climbing fig vine covering the stone. We both have fig vine that has moved under the arch, the vine is solid, and has attached itself to the ceiling of the arch. After attaching the vine has a tendency to hang several short pieces down. Maybe a foot long. They love to build their nests on something that is not attached and moves in the breeze. I only know this from observation. Last year I had three nests up high. I have an long narrow courtyard that widens about 10 feet from the front door. I have a chair I sit in every morning and take in the new beautiful day. One morning in July, after the nests above had been used and the babies had fledged I had a HB flying around and just paying more than usual attention to me. For the first few days I did not think anything about it. Then I finally woke up and paid attention to what she was doing. She would check me out and because I was there every day I guess I was no big deal. Then she would settle into a section of fig vine that was at the top of the house overhang. This section of fig vine was only about 10 feet up. As I sat there day, after day, I watched her build a nest. I went on line to find out what they use to build their nests. Moss and spider webs. I know I live in Las Vegas, Moss? Well I have a Koi pond and loads of moss. I will post photos of the nest and babies.. I am now on the look out for the returns because they usually come back and rehab their old nests. The first thing I look for is the little tint black poop specks. It is usually directly below their nest. With the one on the overhang area, it was on the wall. I do not have a HB feeder because I read that the females want to nest away from the aggressive males. Just type into Google Hummingbirds and you will not have enough time in your time left to read it all. Enjoy. My nest with babies last year was not on my bucket list but should have been.