A New Blog

I still have a few hummingbirds coming around now and then but don't see them nearly as often, the deer had a feast on most of the flowers the hummers like.

I am starting a new blog you can find here called Backyard Wonders. I have decided that instead of burying all the posts about the hummingbirds in order to post pictures of other birds and critters that visit my yard, it would be best to just start a new blog, thus keeping the information on hummingbirds more accessible.

On another note... These little hummingbirds, are being featured in the October issue of Birder's World Magazine, in the From Your Backyard section.

Hummingbirds Are Visiting Now

I believe these are the same hummingbirds that came from the nest. There have been three coming around and one does look like the same female from the nest. One of them must be a male because it was practicing the male flight display pattern today.

They love the Crocosmia that's blooming right now, they perch on it's flower stems, and get a good supply of nectar from it's blossoms.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independance Day everyone!

Just so everyone knows, the Chickadee in the previous post is not a Chickadee at all but a Junco.

Got a couple shots of one of the hummers today, this may be the one that has the fledgings, but I'm not certain about that. It had a bright red patch like the mother, but I didn't see it well enough to tell if it matched hers or not.

Flowers, Hummingbirds, and Cow Birds

This flower is the one that the hummingbirds love to land on the stems of, it's called Crocosmia, and the blooms just started opening yesterday.

Not the best shot here but there is a hummingbird sitting on it, will most certainly be trying for better shots, as they continue to visit these flowers. I should be able to get some good ones as long as the deer don't eat the flowers, some years they eat them and others they don't seem to bother them much.

I noticed a couple hummingbirds out by the flowers this morning, when I went outside one of them came and hovered in front of me for a few seconds, and seemed to be eyeing my camera. I'm not certain but it may have been one of the fledglings. Once the blackberries stop blooming, and they're almost finished, the hummingbirds will visit the flower beds more.

~*~

I saw this Chickadee feeding a Brown Headed Cowbird fledgling this afternoon, and managed to get a couple shots of them together.

The Chickadee seems so small compared to the Cowbird. I wonder if it's hard for the Chickadee to keep up with the feeding of this one.

Here's one more shot of the fledgling. Cowbirds lay their eggs in another birds nest, when the eggs hatch I guess the Cowbirds hatchling grows faster, and eats more, then the rest of the hatchlings starve. This Chickadee seems to be accepting the Cowbird as if it is her own.

Another Hummer Favorite

Hummingbirds love Columbine, and it is full of blooms right now, another flower that reseeds itself real well.

This second photo shows the long spurs on the back of the Columbine blossom, These are filled with nectar, it's no wonder the humingbirds love this stuff. The flower almost looks as if it was designed just for hummingbirds. They can easily get their beaks into those spurs.


The Hummingbirds are starting to visit the flowers a little more now, I hope to get some shots of them soon. There's another flower in the yard that's just starting to bloom and they love to land on the stems of it and sip the nectar from the blossoms, will try and get some shots of that happening.

Saw A Fledgling Today

These first two photos are of another hummingbird visiting some of the flowers that are blooming in my yard right now. These are the same flowers momma hummingbird has kept guard over.



I thought it might be fun to check out some of the flowers hummingbirds love, and the fledglings will soon be visiting. One already has that I know of, I was sitting on the porch drinking some coffee this morning, camera inside the house plugged in to let the battery charge, when one of the fledglings stopped by for a visit, it checked out some Petunias, then the new feeder from Duncraft, and landed on the Duncraft feeder and sat there for a few minutes before flying off again. I will have to keep an eye out for them now and see if I can't get some photos of them.

The hummingbird pictured here is visiting the Jupiters Beard, it's in full bloom right now, and the hummingbirds love it.

This is another flower they love, it's a form of Linaria and it is blooming right now, I have both a pink and purple flowered ones.

This last photo is of Lambs Ears, I have two different types, this one is blooming right now, and the hummingbirds do like it. If you leave the flower stalks on them over the winter in the spring the hummingbirds will collect down from them for their nests.

I will post some other flowers over the weekend, and hopefully before too long some photos of the fledglings when they start to visit. Another note about the flowers posted tonight is all three of these reseed themselves, and seem to do fine without much watering. So far the deer haven't eaten the Jupiters Beard but they sometimes do.

Second Fledgling Is Flying

I found the second fledgling yesterday morning sitting on the reed of some tall grass. These little fledglings are more like helicopters when they first start to fly, wonder how long before they obtain those jet fighter flight skills

I think it was getting bored there, or maybe it was just waking up. It took a short flight from where you see it sitting here, landed on my leg and clung to my pant leg for a few short moments, then flew up into the nearby Cedar tree.

Here's what the nest looks like now that they are finished with it. They really squished it down, and flattened it out.

I saw one of the fledgling last night in the Cedar tree, and saw the mother come feed it, and there was one up there this morning that I could locate as well. They are too high up to get any shots of, but who knows maybe they will be visiting me soon and I'll be able to get more shots of them. The mom is visiting the flower beds and feeders. I'm sure she will bring them around once they can fly better and are ready to start feeding from the flowers on their own.

After reading about all the things that might eat baby hummingbirds, I sure am thankful they have both done so well, and the nest was a success for the mother hummingbird.

I have decided to keep the blackberry bushes and just prune them back from now on, and let it mingle with the honeysuckle, I may get some cuttings from the honeysuckle and plant some elsewhere in the yard, this variety blooms when the native honeysuckle is finished blooming. I have noticed the hummingbirds really love the blackberry blossoms. And I have to admit, I love the jam that comes from the berries.