2009 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds Vol 2

A late evening shot. Light in the wrong direction.

Aww, I love seeing the purple on them!

I've never had great numbers on my feeders in OK. The birds just seem too territorial. On trips to the West in the RV, I take along some feeders and will have a dozen or so in just a couple of days.

I notice that the pair on this feeder like the two Autumn sages that I planted nearby. They spend as much time on it as the feeder.

You know Pelle, if you go buy the bloom time, maybe they are not late at all. My lilacs are more late than normal. Usually by this date I have a big bouquet on my desk. However, only a couple flowers are opening on the clusters.

It's a BOY!!!!!

Out of practice with these little guys!



This message was edited Apr 29, 2009 2:55 PM

YAY!

it's not Ed though.

I don't think so :(.....but I think it maybe one from last year. He took off when I first came to the window, but then came right back.

Too cute Nanny...maybe it is one of Ed's offspring?!!

Could be....Looks a bit like our very slender pair. Where as Ed was a little stocky. OMG...I am talking about a bird for pete sakes...LOL!!!!!!

ha. but it's YOUR Ed!!!!

and a wild bird at that...LOL!! Too funny Nanny but I do the same thing!!

Hi Dellrose. Your comment about driving hubby nuts about your window watching made me laugh. When my Girl Scout troop meets at my house ( high school age girls ) they like to laugh at me because while they are working I am constantly going back and forth from the front and back windows. They say I am obsessed. Going to camp is a lot of fun for birdwatching too. LOL. What is even more fun is when I catch them looking at the birds out the window too!!!

That's it Lynn.. Spread the Joy!!!

LOL Lynn...Nice about the Girl Scouts...budding bird watchers!!

I get to start over with Girl Scouts with my 5 yr old. She loves the birds as much as I do and can identify but her real passion is the butterflies especially Monarchs! That is what started my whole nature obsession. My older troop has done a butterfly garden for our town (it needs weeded soon) and my little ones will be taking over the care of it.

Haven't seen my Hummingbird since this morning but I now have 3 orioles.

My neighbor who told me he was seeing Indigos around here was in my Scout troop about 30 years ago. Both he and his brother achieved the rank of Eagle (my son, too). He is now a pathologist and runs the pathology lab at our regional hospital.

I'm a great fan of Scouting and what it provides kids as opposed to organized athletics. Seems every generation gets a little more disconnected from the land and nature.

This message was edited Apr 30, 2009 7:29 PM

Hey Red i so agree with you. The camp director told me last year that at Girl scout camp they have a hard time getting kids to fill up the canoe session anymore but the 'pampered princess' fills up and they have to turn girls away. She too thinks it is so sad that it is hard to fill the hiking and canoeing and outdoor camps. I think kids are so used to computers and videos and now cell phones. i got lucky with my high school troop. One of their fav places is our camp. However, i have mothers that absolutely despise going camping and using latrines. LOL I just sit back and laugh...and then start watching the birds again LOL

I too, dislike sports but my reasons might be different. It seems that kids that are not in the 'IN' group or not good enough never get to play. I realize that teams are out to win but there should also be a chance for everyone to play.

Sorry to get off track on this particular thread. hehe and now back to the birds. :)

OMG, I LOVED girlscout camp with the canoeing and hiking. Oh and fishing and blackberry picking. Dang. I want to go to camp!

Our council is ALWAYS looking for volunteers and with me starting a Daisy troop and what I see with parents today, maybe there can be a place for you to volunteer. :) I absolutely love going to camp also. My neighbor took me berry picking last year for the first time ever and it was soooooo cool. Then he surprised me and gave me his bucket of berries. We found mostly black raspberries and a few red raspberries and the blackberries were not ripe yet. I was so paranoid though about getting more poison ivy. I was already suffering from it and getting ready to go on vacation and his wife wouldn't go because she did not want to get into any and I kept seeing three leaves (everything i saw had three leaves even it was 4 or more LOL) and kept asking him 'is that poison ivy' I must have asked that question a hundred times. LOLOL I wonder if he will take me again this year.

Mrs. Ed, see I suggested Girl Scouts to you awhile back, remember!!

I had a GS meeting tonight and they talked me into making this rapper face (which I am NOT good at) and they all took pictures and now they want to put it on their facebook pages. Revenge plotting now. They love to go out for onion rings and I told them if a pic turns up no onion rings ever again. LOL. they are so fun.

I know, Nan, I thought about that!!!

Hey Lynnbird, thanks for sending me an oriole!

I still remember the Girl Scout oath and that was over 50 years ago...unfortunately I have a problem remembering my zip code!! LOL!

Terrible pic but I took it tonight through the window and screen!

Oh man I am green with envy Rose!!

me too... look at them all... I keep watching & replacing sugar water... nothing yet
:(

good gravy! So not fair!

;-)

Not sure if hummers would like gravy, however good it is . . .

;-)

Resin you been hanging with Victorgardener?? sounds like something he would say

:)

Dellrose, wonderful shots of the hovering male! I so wanted to get some like that, but so far no cooperation!

Hi, again,dellrose,

I was curious about your large hummer population (and your bluebirds, too!) so I looked up Conway MO on the Avian Flyway Maps, and it looks like you may be in the middle of the Missouri Flyway which leads into the Mississippi Flyway. So that might explain (to me, anyway) why you have so so so many birdy visitors.

So, have you heard anything about the Missouri Flyway and/or the Mississippi Flyway or if indeed your home is situated along it?

Just wondering! (-: t.

Below is a map of Avian Byways in the US from the 'Science Mouse' Blog which you can find at this link: http://www.sciencemouse.com/2009/04/flyways-highways-in-the-sky/

Everyone… please put your hands together for Mrs_Ed's first ruby-throat hummingbird of the season! A male at 4:30 pm!

I don't know about the flyway and all of Rose's humminbirds. I'm only 30 miles from the Mississippi.

yeah for you.... boo for me

:)

HA. Well don't worry. it's probably the only one I'll see here until August!

more than me!!!

I wonder if I sent you the hummingbird with the oriole Mrs._Ed. I had one male two mornings ago but have not seen him since. The orioles are keeping me entertained though. Their song is so pretty and they are getting use to the noise my five year old makes too. they dont fly away so quick.

Oh by the way, congrats Mrs._Ed! :)

Thanks. This was a real treat since in the fall I dont' seem to get the adult males. When he flew backwards and the sun caught his throat, it was just spectacular!

Congratulations Marna!!

Congrats Marna...I hope you get tons more!!

Tabasco..to answer your question: I am located in South West Missouri and according to the map we are not in the flyway. The watchers that post on the Mo. List-serve in the St. Louis and Kansas City area see birds that I have yet to glimpse. That being said we are in the Ozarks and have lots of forests, lakes and rivers in our area so I think it must look attractive to any birds flying over. I often wonder if the jet stream also has a lot to do with the migration pattern. One thing I have learned is that just because a bird isn't common for a given area doesn't mean it won't show up or if it is common doesn't mean you will see it!! The birds definitely don't read the maps!! LOL!

I have a window feeder right next to where I am typing and it is such a sweet experience seeing them so close. They actually look smaller !! I also have a birch tree and a snowball bush outside the front windows and have seen many of they "resting" when they are not eating.

Here is a little female from the other day.