Hummingbird Adventures #8

Trickster!

I guess I like this one because it looks more like a bat than a bird. LOL!
Last one from me today.
Have a great weekend!
WIB.
SW

Beautiful pics everyone!!! Still waiting for mine to come back, they're around....nectar is disappearing from the feeder. I just haven't seen them. We're starting to warm up, so the flowers will be blooming soon.

Lovely photos on here! It's likely to reach 103 degrees here today, and I am worried about those poor little hummer eggs frying. Here's mama on her nest:

Yes, awesome photos, folks. Awesome! Linda

Hot here too. Think I've spotted (with help on one) two nesting sites. No way will I be able to reach either one. Too high, but Jonathan is getting a better camera than mine, so maybe his can get it. The second one is activity I saw today when walking by the cabin. It may be that the hummer nest inside the old cabin (Photo posted on the first page of this thread) is still being used. I am not going to go look. I'd kill myself on trying to get high enough to see. Besides I don't want to disturb her if she is nesting.
By the way, sunny, Mama would get off the nest if it was too hot. She would also be able to fan it with her wings, like bees do to cool the hive. I've never seen an egg baked in the (Chicken) nest. The Mama's just know. So don't worry. (Chickens aren't smart about a lot of things, but they are downright canny when it comes to the care of their clutches.)
Here was my first visitor yesterday.
Color! Not a great shot though.

A very fast black chinned.

I don't care how blurry this is, I got purple color!

Okay, I'll quit goofing around.
Trickster? Or Zoom?

I swear this is Zoom. I watched him take this perch. He used it all day long to drive off the others males.

Isn't he pretty!

I just love to see them sticking out their tongues!

Last view of Zoom last night.

After Zoom left the Black Chinned came in for a last fill up.
WIB,
SW

Was going through the photos I took today. Look in the upper right hand corner of the photo. Series of 3 that are the same photo, but cropped. This should have been the last photo and not the first. I'm so heyoka today.
WIB,
SW

This message was edited May 17, 2009 8:51 PM

Can you see the hummer?

Was so amazed that the moment I was talking about in an earlier post was actually captured!
WIB,
SW

SW, your 9:10pm photo reminds me of a comment I intended to make about your 5/15 8:18pm photo.

Look at the 5:15 photo and notice the tail feathers. It appears that the wing feathers fold over to encircle the tail feathers. Not so noticeable in tonight's photo, although the wings do seem to encircle a bit, don't they?

Is that just an illusion?

Linda

I'm glad to see the whole gang is out and about SW :-). How very exciting about the nests, too! I do remember that nest photo you posted, and can't wait for any updates on nesting activity.

Thanks so much for the reassurance and information on the egg/heat issue. We had a period in the 90's while mom was sitting on the last nest, and she did move out of the nest and onto the side during the heat. Unfortunately the eggs never hatched, or something ate them. When researching hummer nests I came across the following site, which says that if the eggs get above 96 degrees they will get cooked. http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/nest.php The current nest is in a shady location though...so hopefully that, combined with the measures you mentioned above helped mom keep the temps safe for the eggs. I didn't get out there today to see the status, if she was sitting on the eggs etc. but hopefully all went okay.

Linda,
In answer to your question. The wings encircle the body of the bird, they are actually longer than the body when at rest. I'll see if I can get or find a photo later on, that shows how they cover the tail feathers. It is not an illusion.
sunnyg, what a neat site! Thank you so much for sharing that. Our native hummers have pretty much adapted to our conditions. I do have a lot of chickens and noticed that they will periodically get up, wing the nest, turn the eggs over so that one side doesn't get hotter than the other, and so they remain at a constant temp. The only exception to this is if the Mama Hen abandons the nest. Then the eggs cook, or worse yet rot. Yuck!
It's cooling down slightly here. We got the mister on the back porch fixed yesterday, and did some other clean up chores done too. Will have to see if the hummers visit it when it is on.
The bad news is, DH in his infinite wisdom, has decided to put his employees to work painting my back porch right now. This means I probably won't be able to get photos of the hummers until they leave for the day.
Your mission(should you decide to accept it), is to take hummer photos. Good ones or blurry ones, it's okay. I probably won't even get a blurry one. I hope it doesn't take them long to get the job done. LOOONG Sigh.
WIB,
SW

It's much cooler today here as well...ahhhhh :-). If the eggs made it through the last couple of days, I think they'll now be okay. I checked on the nest a little while ago, but mom was off in search of food. I accepted your photo mission, and finally got pics of the one male hummer that visits the feeders in the backyard. I put up several feeders in the hopes that there could be a little harmonious eating out there, but so far he is a very fierce defender of the feeders.

one more shot (I am just so happy to have finally had my camera at the right moment. LOL)

I'm lucky - I have one feeder in front and one in back and I can see them both from inside the house. What's funny is watching the hummers try to keep the orioles off the one in the back.

Oh man, I can only imagine they put on quite the show. LOL. I haven't seen the orioles here recently...I wonder if they've moved on already?

Nice pictures sunnyg. I still haven't seen mine, but the nectar is still going down.

SW, thanks for your answers. Yeah, that's an awesome discovery for me. The Hummies around here seem to move from one source to another and mine is in the middle.

SunnyG: that first photo is amazing. You caught that hummie and the feeder all in excellent focus. Amazing photography!

Linda

sunny,
Gosh girl, you did good! I'm as pleased as punch! ^_^
Have you ever noticed that they fly like dolphins swim!
Ditto what Twincol said about that first photo!
Sally, maybe you have stealth hummers, or they are only visiting at a certain time of the day. I get a lot of activity in the morning and evening, the least around noon. Maybe something else is eating the nectar? I hope you get to see them again soon.
The hummers are kind of angry. They haven't been coming while the guys are out on the patio working, I really hope that can finish it soon and I can put things in order. I'll have to try early in the day tomorrow.
Most of what I know about hummers is from observing their behavior over the years. You honestly don't believe that I could run as fast a hummer flies? I found my one and only hummers nest by observing it's behavior. These guys are predictable. So I'd position myself on it's flight path where I'd lost it the previous trip to the spider webs, and eventually I found the nest.
Patience. I'm gonna miss having my morning cuppa without the hummers. Sigh!
Keep up the good work!
WIB!
SW

Thanks so much :-). SW, you know, they really are like little flying dolphins! I'd never thought about it like that, but it really does fit. Sally, you've got little invisible hummers. LOL. My visitor shows up more in the early morning and in the evening as well.

Stealth hummers, a new species!!

Well at least they act stealthy. I wasn't able to get any photos of hummers today. I'll send you a photo of my back patio, and you'll see why. When DH's workers are out there, the hummers don't come by. I guess they don't like his music. I am hoping that it won't take much longer, but you know how that goes.
When the guy finally leaves they all come into the gh to eat. I had 6 hummers in there this evening. Zoom wouldn't let anyone else eat, except a little guy that looked like him. Zoom made him wait for awhile before he allowed him to eat. The others just chased each other in circles most eventually flew out, but there were still a couple in the gh before I closed the doors.
I'll try to get some early in the morning.
Hope you all have better luck than I did today.
WIB!
SW

Wow, SW, your patio is already looking wonderful. I bet you'll really enjoy watching the birds enjoy it too.

This little girl sure was enjoying her morning shower yesterday.

This is my little guy with the deformed bill. It hasn't seemed to bother him and he's been here since last spring.

This is my favorite photo of the two little ladies in the showers.

Thanks duc, just hope it gets finished soon!
Loved your pics of the hummers bathing. This photo shows your little friends' deformed beak better. You say it doesn't seem to bother him much. That is nice to know. He seems like a sweetie.
We are getting to the point where we need a new page for this thread. So here is where we are going:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/992003/

Got to share my favorite photo from yesterday. Had to wait for the guys painting the arbor to leave, but I did get some good photos as you'll see on the next page. This one shot at me, in a blaze of color. Too funny!
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf