Hummingbird Adventures #5

Had another hummer in the house again today. That is the second one this season. He was upstairs trying to get out the closed window. I was having a quiet moment and heard the flutter of the wings. When I opened the first window he moved to the next window. When I opened the second he moved between the open & closed part of the window I had just opened and then tumbled down to the bottom of the window where the two came together. He was really small and not happy. He was letting out a piercing shrill. I took a deep breath, pulled very hard toward myself on the inside window and it separated enough for him to get out. Of course, he did not come back and say thank you. Our temps dropped 40 degrees over night and had high winds all night and part of the morning. The birds had a "E" ticket ride on the sock feeder. I wish I had a video because it was hilarious. Take care my friends.

Hard day for hummers out here. The feeder in the gh is okay, but the one on the patio is blown empty. Should be nicer tomorrow.
Awfully nice of you to let the little hummer that sheltered with you out. I'm sure he appreciated the chance to warm up!
You keep warm!
WIB!
SW

It's amazing how tough our little hummers can be. SK, happy to hear your little one got back outside safely. The wind and cold are due to start changing today. I'll just be happy when I don't have to bundle up and cover my pots every night.

I took this from our upper deck so it's not very clear, but this Anna's male was looking pretty while he guarded "his" feeder up by me. It was far too windy for him to be up on his usual railing wire.

This is his usual spot, but he was having trouble finding his balance with the gusts of wind.

duc is that wisteria I see below his perch? It must have been just as windy there as it was here. I was afraid to go out, even in the 20lb. coat. Still got too chilled. Should be warmer over the weekend. Great photo's, I can tell by how much movement is in that group of purple blossoms. Well done!
WIB!
SW

I'm suffering SERIOUS camera envy here, duc!! What are you using, anyway?

duc, what a great pictures. He is beautiful I do not believe we get Anna's here in Las Vegas. The majority of our hummingbirds are brown with a little green. I went out to the driveway to collect the paper and was buzzed by at least 4 hummers. Must have nests everywhere. YEAH!!!!! Duc, what camera are you using?

I was out doing some yard cleanup this evening, and when I came to the front door to go back in the house, this little guy was sitting on the scuff plate at the base of the door. Having taken down my portable greenhouse a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't exercise that option to keep him/her, and didn't want to leave him/her outside to become cat food. So we called the local SPCA, who referred us to their wildlife rescue folks, who asked us to bring the bird to them (about an 18-mile trip to Monterey). So that's what we did -- they think the bird will be okay, and they have the right stuff to feed it to keep it healthy. I believe this is a juvenile Rufous Hummingbird. It didn't at all seem to mind sitting in my hand, and actually scrambled to stay there when we put in a box to transport it to the rescue folks. Anyway, we're hopeful that he/she will be okay.

AWWWwwww, weatherguesser. What a cute picture. What a fun experience.

Bless you for taking him/her to the rescue folks . . . bless you!

Linda

What a kind thing for you to do weatherguesser! I'm sure the lil, darling was nice and warm in your hand, and it certainly looks like it feels safe in that hand. What a blessing to feel his little heart beating. How heart warming that there are hummer rescue organizations where you live.
Thanks for sharing your story. It's reminds me how this thread originally got started, when we rescued a cold hummer, and she's still hanging out. Something real special to hold something so tiny and so wild, he knew who he could trust.
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

As it turned out, the little one will even have company -- there was another juvenile already there (had been brought in the day before). I don't know if it was the same species or not, but at least maybe they'll be able to chitter together.

Anyway, my wife and I agreed that we needed to take it in -- I'd read that feeding them sugar water or even commercial "hummingbird nectar" for any extended period is bad for their future development, and we didn't want to take the chance of that. We have lots of hummers around our house -- they like our garden and our fountain -- and they give us such pleasure that we couldn't just abandon this little one to its fate.

How sweet is that? Thank you for taking care of it, I would have done the same. Such a precious little life, so defenseless.

Wonderful pictures duc. Have a bad case of camera envy along with the others.

SingWolf, not Wisteria, it was a pot of purple Grape Hyacinths.

Imapigeon, I have a Canon Rebel XTi with a 70-300 zoom lens with Image Stabilization. I also use a teleconverter 1.4. I'm still learning how to use it.

Weatherguesser, I just love the story of you saving this little one. Glad you were able to find a rescue center. We have one here and it's sure been a blessing for all our wildlife. I don't know where you read about the sugar water being bad for the birds (the factory nectar is not necessary), but if you clean the feeder every two or three days it will help the hummers with their migration.

Here's one of my Anna's that turned out pretty cute.

This Anna's female is a beauty too. She's so sweet when I walk up to her, she just sits and looks at me.

Thanks for the info---it's now on my Wish List and I'll be saving my Amazon coupons!!

What coupons? How do you get coupons from Amazon? Inquiring minds want to know! :-)

I have an Amazon credit card and I get a $25 Amazon coupon for every $2500 we charge on it. Since my DH uses it for business, that sometimes doesn't take long!

Ah-ha! Didn't think about that possibility.

Hey! Look at the second of Ducbucin's pics and note how her little girl holds her wings! Most birds will place them at their back, with the tips pointing toward their tail. This little girl is holding her wings mid-shoulder/chest with the tips at the end of her tail. It appears to me, also, that the tail is pointing toward the ground, rather than straight back, is is typical.

So what, you ask? Well, it would seem that she is using both for balance, huh?

Linda

Linda, you're probably right about the balance. It's been very windy and this feeder is out in the open.

This pair of Rufous hummers were arguing at the right time for me. Notice the pollen on the bill? There is a lot of honeysuckle around right now.

Duc you are to good. I cannot believe that last picture. I have at this moment three new hummingbird nests in the process of being built and for the first time i have several very small yellow birds (i will look up the identity) building a nest in the front of the overhang of the court yard within the fig vine. As the fig vine goes further up it gets bigger leaves and much thicker. This is the first year for the birds. I am going tomorrow with my binoculars on the upper deck to search them out. I am already putting out feelers for a new camera. I have had two workers helping in the garden for the last two days to get me caught up because I was down and out. Tomorrow is suppose to be 87 degrees and i will be out there early. Hope my coughing will let me do what I want to do.. Wish me luck.. See you all on Monday. Have a great Sunday...

I'm just catching up with this thread...what an awesome bunch of photos and stories on here lately. Too neat! My mom is visiting, and we found a new nest this morning! It's in the same tree as the "tree nest," and it appears as if mama dismantled the old nest and used it to build the new nest.

Skwinter and Sunnyg, I'm so envious of you both being able to witness the goings on in the nests. You'll just have to share lots of photos with me and don't worry about me being so jealous! I always average 25-30 hummers through summer so I'll have lots of tales too. Sk, hope you get over that cough soon.

I just got home from another banding session. It was so interesting and I'm learning more and more. We captured 43 hummers, but 31 of them were recaptures which means we either captured some earlier in the day (that was about 8 of them) or they'd been banded in past years. One of them had been banded in 2007 so that that exciting. We still don't know where these birds go when they're not here in our area, but hopefully some day the scientists will figure it out.

Wow Duc, you band hummers? That must be an amazing experience! Would you mind explaining a bit about what you do? Do you have photos of the process? You get so many hummers where you are...they must keep you entertained all summer long :-). I'm looking forward to more of your photos and hummer stories. My step-mom gets many, many hummers at her 6 feeders, and I am tempted to put up more feeders of my own. She lives about 45 min. away, but with all the nesting activity here I have a feeling I'd get quite a few if I put up more feeders. What do you think?

As you can probably tell, I've become a bit obsessed with hummingbirds. (It looks like I'm in good company on this thread LOL). Here are links to the many photos from this nesting season:

First nest (ended badly): http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/950657/
Second nest: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/963526/

There are links to the additional threads at the bottom the page for the second nest, however this is the current thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/973050/

Sk, I can't wait to see photos of all your nests...3 at one time, how neat!

Here's a photo of a couple of hummers at my step-mom's feeder. I took this photo last winter

Duc,
I am with Sunnyg, please share your hummingbird banding story with us.
Even though my photos aren't as great as yours, I've been getting lots of visitors. I plan on starting a new thread tomorrow, and would like for you Hummer Banding experiences to help start off the new thread, if that is okay with you.
Some photos I took on Friday, but didn't have a chance to post.
First, is my girl Zippy.

Our good buddy Zoom.

Zoom gets to eat!

Another photo of Zippy.

Zoom, peeking around the side of the feeder to see if I'm looking. LOL!

Two in one photo.

Sweetie Pie, visiting with Lone Wolf, who is standing less than a foot away from the feeder.

Close up of Sweetie Pie.

Zoom with his tongue sticking out a little.

Zoom the acrobat.

Handsome Zoom!

Even from behind, they are enchanting. She looks like she is wearing a beautiful dress in this photo.

Last one from me today.
Zoom!

Wow, they are getting so daring...very neat! I love the "dress" photo, those tail feathers are so pretty!

Great photos SW!

Well I spent a whole day in the garden today. l did not start until 11am because of my Bronchitis. I had numerous plants, gifts, ordered and traded plants, mostly Cannes, that needed to be planted before they bit the dust. I also had to label them. Hope I can remember tomorrow what is what. I shoved identity bags nearby but we will see if I remember what, where and whatever tomorrow. I had two laborers over Friday all day and about 5 hours on Saturday. Did they do it right. Close. But I had to plant today or lose a larger majority of the plants. Tomorrow I have to label everything, all labels done. Just have to rely on my memory. Wish me luck. I am going to ther doctor gin tomorrow. I have never had anything like this and I want it to go away. Good thing is I have lost 7 pounds because I have no appetite. But I want to be back NOW!!!!!@