Hummingbird Adventures #7

Black chinned hummer.

Look at Zooms beak!

Look at how shimmery green Zippy is.

I'm not sure if this is Zoom or not?

Not Zoom!

Another black chinned.

Can you find the hummer in this photo?

My favorite photo of the day. Just after working the guava flowers, Zippy seems pretty happy!
WIB,
SW

Hey, guys! That little baby just kept coming back all afternoon. Such a cute little tiny baby hummie. Never could get a photo. Drat!

Interestingly, I observed eating behavior in this little specimen similar to that of the older ones. They will take 3 or 4 drinks of water, ie. bob bob bob, pause momentarily and then either take another drink or zip off the opposite direction from whence s/he came. Why never fly off in the direction from which they came? Do they do a circiut? ie. #2 plant, #4 feeder, #5 feeder, #6 feeder, #5 plant, #2 plant, #4 feeder, ad nauseum?

Such predictable behavior! If only their arrival were as predictable [chuckling].

That little baby is so cute!

Linda

Linda, if you start keeping a record (I mark my calendar when a new hummer arrives, (like a Rufous or Caliope) you might be surprised at how predictable they really are on their migration paths. Some of our Anna's stay year round, but the Caliope is only here for a few weeks and the Rufous hummers arrive within a couple weeks of the previous year. I've already marked my calendar to see if my Black-chinned hummers come back next year too.

SW, you're going good on the pictures. Glad you're still seeing the Blk-chinned. Our local audobon records show that there were only 2 recorded in our county last year. I feel privileged to report my sighting.

Mine aren't flying yet but they have gotten a lot bigger.

Great photo, hugeprops!

Our hummers were trying to chase a bumblebee out of the Passiflora this morning. Very funny to watch. He left, too!

Cute babies!!

Great photos SingingWolf and HughProps. I had two hummers in the waterfall of the KOI pond this morning taking their baths. I did not have my camera and did not want to miss the show. We were 90 degrees today and suppose to be 98 degrees by Wednesday. Our spring was about two weeks.

Great pics everyone! The colors are showing up great!! I want some sun!!! High winds and torrential rain due tomorrow. Hummers will be scarce again. Boo!

SK, number one rule is to have the camera close at all times!! I'd have loved to see the hummer near the waterfall. Please enjoy that warm weather for me. We're still in the 50's with cloudy skies and high winds are coming back tonight.

Sally, hope the rain doesn't cause any damage!

My friendly Anna's are always near for pictures.

The hummers always seem to swarm the feeders in the rain.

This Rufous has lots of pollen on its bill from all the honeysuckle blooms.

This message was edited May 4, 2009 7:29 AM

Thanks for all the nice comments. Duc, you never cease to amaze me.
Sharing some I took yesterday, but fell asleep before I posted.
First photo of day. A little dark, but you can see that Zoom takes his job seriously! Guard Duty!

Our girl Zippy!

Boy do I ever recognize that "on guard" look! These guys mean business if anyone gets near their feeder. Cute pictures!

Is it just me, or is she looking kind of scruffy and harried? I wonder if her babies have hatched. ?
Twincol, they usually fly in from one direction and leave by another. They don't like the crows and hide, when one passes over even when they are in the gh. Sometimes they go for different things at different times. Depends on what is blooming in my yard. They are really working the wild tobacco, and I take lousy photos through windows (too much dirt on them). I do think they have a preferred food they will go there until the nectar is exhausted, the feeders are just always there. I have noticed I am seeing more of the males than the females. Think the ladies are sitting on the nest.

Thanks duc, yours are too.
Here our star, Zoom! I just love his collar.

Zoom approaching the feeder.

Can it be? Is it really her? YES! Sweetie Pie, the instigator of this thread. I thought I'd seen her, but the the photos were too blurry to be sure. Glad she is still coming around. Just don't see her as often as Zippy or some of the other ladies.

How many wings does this hummer have? Does he have one feather with a golden tip near his neck? Maybe it is just pollen.

Zoom looks like a Native American Indian Fancy Dancer at a Pow Wow!

I know that this pretty Black Chinned Hummer has a beak, but I can't see it.

Last one from yesterday. I call it HARMONY.
You can count the critters. Remember, I am behind the camera. LOL!
WIB!
SW

Love the pictures, I can't believe how much color you are both capturing. Really like that last pic SW. LOL

We've had rain all day, but so far the rough stuff has missed us. The coast took the brunt of it. One more system to go through (tonight) and then it should just be rain until the weekend. Don't mind the rain, it's the winds that bug me.

I see five! Did I miss any? Great photos, SW, especially Zoom dancing.

That was my count too, Sis.

{dancing, dancing} Woohoo! Here's my little baby! Can you tell it's a baby? Does it look especially small like a baby?

Note, if you will, that 1) I had to pre-focus on the feeder blossom as I am not yet hummie-catching savvy enough to focus on a hummie on the move, and 2) that, for the first time I've figured out how to resize my images so that it doesn't take 3 minutes each to upload them, so it may not be as "good" a picture as I often upload. I don't know how resizing alters the finished product here.

Linda

And here it is feeding.

So cute! And in my yard. Yippee!

Linda

Great pics Linda! Congratulations!

I woke up this morning to find the hummingbird babies and their nest gone, no sign of anything. = (

Oh, no! How sad. :-(

Awww, I'm sorry for your loss hugeprops. Sometimes nature is so cruel.

SW, I loved seeing all your critters. They look like they're quite happy all together.

This little one was scratching an itch on his neck.

Awww, that feels better.