Show me your hummingbirds

Cool pic Sally. My feeder is about 5' from the deck, I can set and shoot. Hold pose, don't breath, and hope no one moves. LOL
This is the female, I think

Off to bed, night all Hugs

That's about how far mine is too, Tills. Yes, don't breathe!!

When I got married in 1964 I was a naiive country girl. I had never seen a hummingbird in my life. We moved to Sonoma Ca and one day I saw this creature in the flowers; at first I thought it was one of those big moths. I caught it and put it in a shoe box to show the new husband. It probably would have died had it stayed in that box very long.

????????????????

I had to get one out of my Mom's greenhouse one year when I was house-sitting. Was right about this time of year, and how it found it's way in to get to the geraniums inside I will never know, but the poor little creature was beating himself silly trying to get back out. Never thought in a million years I would hold one in my hand!

WOW! That would be neat! I have a chase with birds in my garage all summer, but never hummers. Usually finches or chickadees.

Wow, some lovely shots and great stories on here!

LOL Katie at the "Hummingbird whisperer"! The little mom tries to poop on my head, and actually succeeded the first time...so apparently my whispering isn't all that effective ;-). Here is a shot I took of the first nest, seconds before I got pooped on. All was going well, until I tripped over something and startled her:

What kind of tree is that? Is it a good shade tree for you?

I get dived bomed but never Poop on LOL

I took 35 pic today some good some when to the trash. I have a family of 3 I think, 1 female 2 males ( one is smaller)
This is mom

Another of mom. She is not as scared as the others, or likes her pic taken.

In coming, mom again

One of the boys.

Mine, and the fight is on.
Its funny to see them chase each other away and the twittering noise they make. I would like to get a tripod and set the camera on video just to capture the sound.

Sunny, in some cultures it's considered very good luck to be pooped on by a bird. The amount of times it's happened to me must make me the luckiest person on earth!

Hey, Margaret! That's a good perspective, ha!

How are things in Perth?

Hi Katie, still pretty warm even though we're now well into Autumn. Expecting a top of 32C (approx 90F) today. Haven't had rain for such a long time. Everything looks so tired and dry after the long summer. I'm really looking forward to winter.

That's funny, Margaret. I have a visual image of you with lots of whitey/gray splats all over.
After this winter, I'm not sure others would share your anticipation of it. LOL but, I'm sure that by the end of summer I'll be feeling like you as well. :)
I'm still waiting for the hummers to come to my spot. They are in Jersey already.

Hey all,

I finally saw my first hummingbird of the season a couple of days ago. It was really nice out, and all the sudden I hear this weird sound, like a little propeller. I'm thinking to myself..."what the heck?!" I then glance at the new feeder (about 5 ft away), and in zooms a little red one. I had forgotten what they sound like. :-)

Unfortunately, I haven't seen any since, but I'm not giving up hope. I'm wondering if they don't like where it is (hanging in a tree with a bird feeder nearby).

Does anyone have advice on placement of feeders? Do they tend to like them in a certain place?

Margaret - do you have wet winters? It'll be nice to have the temperature break and some water, for a change. I know eastern Australia's had some nasty fires this summer and I'll bet you've had your trouble with fires over your way, as well.

I just saw the movie Australia and really enjoyed it. I didn't realize that it was set between the great wars - it's good to have some history of what they went through.

Jana,

I would think that your feeder placement next to the bird feeder (as long as they're not right on top of each other) should be fine... my mom's most active hummer feeder is about 10 feet away from one of her most active bird feeders. Try looking for them early morning, or around dusk. That is when mine have been the most active.

Not hummer related, but if anyone is an avid bird watcher, you might enjoy this. My mom just e-mailed me a really cool link to a live web cam on a Bald Eagle nest in Virginia.

http://www.wvec.com/cams/eagle.html

Thanks for posting that. I'm just old enough that I still find it fantastic that I can look at this live from so far away. That's in addition to being in awe that I can see the Eagle and the nest. Amazing.

Holly, I'll bet your students would love this.

Hi Katie, here's a link from the Bureau of Meteorology that will give better details than I could. Note that the temperatures are in Celsius and rainfall in millimetres. http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/season/wa/archive/200808.perth.shtml

The fires in Victoria were simply horrendous. Over 200 people and countless millions of birds, animals and reptiles killed and immeasurable destruction of native flora. Some already vulnerable species will probably now be extinct because of their narrow range. What makes it all the more hideous is that most of the fires were deliberately lit.

I haven't seen the movie "Australia", but it was filmed in the north of Western Australia.

Rarejem, I've been watching that live eagle cam for weeks now. Fascinating. However, the third chick is very tiny and is getting very little to eat. I'm not optimistic about its chances of survival. Here's another link from two cams in Maryland. Not live like the WV cam - two cameras which update every 30-40 seconds. One camera is on two Bald Eagle chicks in the nest and the other is on an Osprey platform. http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/camhtm2.html

I am with you Kathy on still finding it amazing to view such a thing. There are a lot of downsides of technology and it's advancements, but such wonderful positives as well. Who would have thought 20 years ago that we would be able to share our gardens with people across the globe in a blink of an eye, or watch an Eagle hatch on the other side of the country?

Margaret, I have gotten a little bit of info on the fires from a member of my Daylily e-mail Robin, and I can't believe how tragic this summer has been for your area. It's incredible that the thoughtless acts of individuals could cause such devestation and sorrow for the entire world. Thanks for the other links as well. YUP. Just amazing!

Hey, Julie, check out the birdwatching forum for other cool cameras of birds nesting.

Margaret LOL on the poop "issue." It definitely sounds like you've had some experience in that arena. There are some serious poopers out there in the avian world, so I feel lucky simply due to the fact that it was a little hummingbird that decided to use my head as a bathroom ;-). Hmmm...that might make an interesting thread: which birds have pooped on you?

Those cams are addictive! I was totally glued to that first hummingbird cam that made the rounds.

The babies in the last nest I was watching fledged yesterday. I think some of you have already seen this video, so I hope it's okay to post it here?
http://s618.photobucket.com/albums/tt261/quique_2009/?action=view¤t=170.flv

edited to correct link

This message was edited Apr 9, 2009 2:16 PM

Oh! I forgot to add...Katie, the nest I posted above is actually in a bush. I'm not sure kind kind it is, as it is part of the HOA "landscaping" out front. ;-)

Totally OK - our thread is your thread. As Redchic says, we're all northwest of somewhere. Thanks for sharing your pictures - I can't imagine how much patience it must take to get the shots you have.

I am amazed at the wonderful hummers you all out West have...and so glad for DG to enjoy them on.

Here's my little video contribution. There's also a longer video in my album if you want to see it.

The hummingbird might be a little hard to see, but it's still neat. It was really liking the Apricot Sprite Agastache. The funny thing is, I got that plant in the clearance section at a local nursery (it was a runt).

http://s171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/colliwobbbles/?action=view¤t=MVI_6253.flv

Thanks Katie.

Very cute Jana!

You ladies and your videos. I'm very impressed!!

sweet, Jana! Thanks for sharing. I haave BlueBirds building a nest just outside my back deck glass doors....soon I'll have some pics of their nesting progress and babies for any interestted! It'll be the 3rd year!

Oh, I would love to see that, no BlueBirds here. Just rowdy old Blue Jays. LOL Stellars are pretty, but they pick on the little birds.

I have a blue jay [camp robber] that loves to drink out of my heated bird waterer, I keep trying to take his picture but he sees every movement.

How exciting that you've got bluebirds again, Sheri! I'd definitely be interested in the seeing the pics. Oddly enough, we don't have blue jays here, but I do remember their antics well.

:o) I had blue jays in my yard when the kids were young. We were just talking yesterday about the easter long ago....easter bunny hid the eggs in the yard and the blue jays decimated them! Very tragic easter for my kids that year! LOL! They couldnt understand why the easter bunny destroyed all the eggs they painted loll!

blue jays definitely have character. I walk outside and they yell at me and I tell them to shut up, then they yell at me again. My mom used to get the cayotes howling by howling at them. It's hereditary I guess! :-)

Shes back beside our slidder its offical she is sitting this makes 3 out of the last four years,

LOL Anjl and mortswife!

Congrats eweed! How exciting :-)

Lots of hummers tonight at our four feeders you would think with that much food they wouldn't squabble but they are like little thugs lol. I will tak some new pics when they hatch.