Hummingbird Adventures 11

Here he is feeding.

Zoom sees the BCH, and comes zooming over to chase him away.

It didn't keep him away for long. LOL!

Then Zoom returns. I just could not get a good photo of him today. Here he is feeding. (Some days, I'm just glad to get some color!)

I didn't even think about photos, Jules! LOL He had plenty of feathers, was just verrrry tiny. No, we didn't want to leave him on the ground. They have two dogs and snakes are seen around their place, besides all the other critters we get around here. Hopefully, mom will show up.

With two dogs, two horses, a donkey, a new kitten and a six year old, our neighbors don't do bird feeders! We all have our limits. :-)

He's back! It went like this pretty much all day. Didn't see the ladies except for first thing this morning.

KC ,
He will be fine. Especially if he already has feathers. The feeder is close to him too? His Mama will find him and take care of him. Sounds like he was learning his flight rules (anyone out there remember Jonathon Livingston Seagull?), and he'll probably be gone from the nest box tomorrow.
He might hang around the feeder though. Just move it closer to your place every couple of days and he'll follow you home. LOL!
This fellow is getting his fill just before he twists and flies away from the feeder.

This is my second favorite photo of the day. Even though it is in sihluette (sp), it was fun to watch this hummer pretend it was a Chaste Tree leaf.

My favorite photo of the day. You can see the purple around his neck, under his chin. I'll have to call him the Purple BCH or PBCH.
By the way, we have satellite tv. When the wind starts blowing in the afternoon it causes the tv to loose it's satellite signal (I have trees, for gosh sakes!), so I nap or work in the garden or both. Sometimes at the same time, which can be dangerous! LOL! Seriously, I have napped while awaiting the hummers.
That's it for me today.
WIB,
SW

Sure hope you're right, SW. Yes, the feeder is nearby if he knows how to use it. We just put it on an outer branch so it could be seen.

Haven't seen my BCH for a while.

I've never rescued a hummer, but I've been rescuing robin babies since I was a kid. The parents always knew what was going on unless the baby was sick and they'd abandoned it to save the others, which happened occasionally.
When I was about twelve, I rescued my first baby robin from the neighbor's cat. From that day until I moved out of that house at 19, for a couple of weeks every spring, robin parents would bring their fledglings to my yard when I was working outside, and inform me in no uncertain terms that I was responsible for their welfare until further notice. They'd then go off and hunt for an hour or so. It was like I was running some kind of drop-in birdie day-care.....

This year we have a whole family of oak titmice visiting one of my strawberry trees that has a lot of aphids. I've been told by them to keep a close eye on my cats. Papa titmouse sits on the fence and hollers at me if one of them gets too interested in them. We seem to have an arrangement----I don't let the cats eat them, and in exchange, they eat the aphids.

I suspect your baby hummer will be fine, and that the parents were probably watching the rescue activities closely!

Hey, remember Jonathan Livingston Seagull?! I mean . . . It is my favorite movie of all time. Especially as Neil Diamond sings. In fact, it is so favorite I have a DVD of it. And I have the sound track.

For those of you who don't know, JLS came out in late 1960's. Linda

Couldn't post earlier, had a friend from CA call, had a lot of catching up to do. But I finally caught my hummers today. Well, one of them anyway.

Best I could do with this one, he just wasn't in the mood, so I only kinda caught him.

But this pretty little one was really thirsty!

But when she found out I was watching, she had a lot to say!!

Another view

Last one. I did a little happy dance and they both left in a hurry. LOL

Great pictures, Sis!

CUTE ALERT!!!

Neighbor could not handle the job, so I am hummer mama for the day.

Here I'm trying to introduce myself as a food source.

He's getting the idea.

Yummy...

Sorry, photo size got cropped as well as the image! This should be better. Introduced the dropper. I DID NOT squeeze the bulb. Just made sure there was liquid in the tip and moved it around until his tongue found it.

The cage is one we used to take our cockatiel out when he was a baby. His tail is too long now, so he goes in a bigger cage. :-) They are very cheap at pet stores and good to have around.

I'm taking him/her to the local Hummer Mama this afternoon. She has a nectar with protein in it that will help him grow. Ooops, he's peeping, must go feed!

Boy, he really drank that time! Takes two hands to steady the dropper so he can find it. He's starting to 'gape' as well now.

Drop on my finger.

That looks like fun. Well done sis!

It's a good thing you gave us that cute alert....awwwwww

Sally, is that the "phantom hummer" finally posing for pics? LOL

SW, great to see your gang as usual :-).

This message was edited Jun 8, 2009 2:38 PM

HOW NEAT! Way to go, Ka!

Wow, I am so happy for you Sally, finally some trust!
KC, I never bothered with the eye dropper, just used the finger method (after washing my hands), but my Sweetie Pie, was older than your wee friend.
I am well acquainted with the type of cage you have. I have boys who drag home all kinds of strange things.
When you say "Local hummer Mama", what do you mean?
LMK, okay?
Say, they moved our thread to the birdwatching forum, and it took me a while, but I fingered it out. Left you all a message on the last thread of CA forum, so you might want to let people know we've moved if they can't figure out where we went.
Sally, Happy Dance with you, but next time we'll do it after they leave, okay? ^_^
More photos coming. I guess I'd better go goof off for a while first. LOL!
WIB,
SW

If I hear one 'peep' about our chatty thread, I'm rebelling!

Little baby girl (it was 50/50, so I made a decision) is now with her foster mom #2. Denise is known as the Hummer Mama in Fallbrook. They did a news article about her recently. I can't locate the link right now - Google is acting very strange today. She used to take care of the hummers at SD Zoo. Foster mom #3 will take over for flight training and extended care - she has an aviary set up for them. I got some tips about feeding protein when necessary - not for the faint of heart. :-) SW, you can have your boys do it - they'd love it!

She does not appear to be as young as most rescued birds. She might have gotten into some pesticides or something and seems to be having trouble with her eyes and something is interfering with her flying, too. BTW, we both thought she might be a black-chinned hummingbird. I took a few more pictures and will post any good ones.

It was really a treat taking care of her. I've had a bad throat for a few days and was feeling kind of low, and it gave me someone else to take care of. I'll print some pictures out for the little neighbor girl so she can show off to her friends.

KC, You have dmail.
If there is a patron saint for birds, you sure deserve a medal for helping out this hummer.
I was just teasing about the camera. Still it's nice to see photos.
Even nicer to know that she is in good hands. I know if you find the article you'll share it with us.
I'm sure I'd be interested in the details of feeding protein. Go ahead and dmail the gruesome details. LOL!
I've done CPR on a newborn pup, so I can probably handle it. Used to work for a vet, and when you live on a farm you learn a lot about critter care. Especially, when to take it to the vet! Or in this case to Denise the Hummer Mama.
So nice of you to think of the neighbor's daughter too, a photo will make a great momento. Maybe Denise needs a little helper?
I do hope that you are feeling better soon.
If anyone doesn't like our chatty thread, they are welcome to skip the chat, and just look at the photos.
Speaking of which, Miss Scruffy showed up.

It was an exceptionally windy day here. I almost pulled a "Flying Nun", stunt myself, it's that windy. So while I actually saw two hummers in the gh, the regulars didn't make an appearance today. I'm not sure who the second hummer was. I suspect he was a Black Chinned Hummer (BCH).
Luckily, Miss Scruffy decided to hang out in the gh and I got a couple of good photos to share.
Here she is feeding with her wings back.

I think this is the most humorous photo of the day! That expression! ^_^

She sure tucks in her toes doesn't she?

When she wasn't flitting back and forth across the gh, this was her favorite perch. Here she is pretending to be a light bulb.

Another of Miss Scruffy feeding.

I think that this is Zippy, she flew out of the gh right after this photo.

She's got rainbow feathered wings! : )