More Pictures Of The Baby Hummingbird

Here's another picture of the baby hummingbird, this time without the egg shell covering it's tiny beak.




It's time for a feeding, you can see the baby hummingbirds tiny little beak opening up in this shot.

As you can see the hummingbird is taking good care of her first hatchling

Maybe tomorrow the other egg will hatch! If not it will be the day after.

Hummingbirds First Egg Has Hatched!

When I checked on our little hummingbird this morning, I discovered one of her eggs has finally hatched. I wonder how long before the second one hatches.

Not Yet!

Her eggs haven't hatched yet, but she did stay busy keeping them shaded from the sun today. I scrubbed both feeders today and filled them with fresh nectar in preparation for the soon to be new arrivals.

While we continue waiting for those eggs to hatch, I thought it might be fun to share some of the plants that are blooming in my yard right now, that the hummingbirds love to feed from.

Columbine

These are some of my favorite flowers, and some of the hummingbirds favorites too!

Jupiters Beard

When this stuff comes into bloom the hummingbirds feed on it regularly, the flower buds are just getting ready to open on it, will be good timing and food source for the nesting female when her eggs hatch.

Sage

Who would of ever thought that herbs could serve such a dual purpose, they not only provide me with flavoring for food, but the hummingbirds with nectar as well.

Honey Suckle

This stuff grows wild, and in abundance just out back of my house, the hummingbirds love it, and when it starts blooming, the hummingbirds stop visiting the feeders.

Salal

Another plant that grows wild and in abundance all throughout my property, I see hummingbirds sipping nectar from these occasionaly.

Still Waiting!

Still Waiting....

The hummingbirds eggs look less translusent now, and could hatch at anytime. She is spending more and more time on her nest, probably getting rested up for the work she has ahead of her caring for those hatchlings. Not too mention the weather has been cooler.

I saw the owl again, but didn't get any shots this last time, but did note there were two smaller owls cuddling together on one of the nearby tree branches, I believe they are fledglings, and hope to see them again roosting in the nearby trees, where they can be more easily photographed.

Not Much Longer....

Her eggs haven't hatched yet, but she is still keeping those eggs tended to. Check out how much her nest has changed from when she first layed her eggs. it's now almost completely covered, and disguised with lichen, and she seems to be fitting much lower into it, so she's done quite a lot of building on it since she layed her eggs. The eggs should hatch anytime between this coming weekend and the following one.

Other things happening around my yard...

a bit of a sad story...

I was wandering around the yard with my camera when this poor little bird landed just a couple feet in front of me.

At first I was kind of excited, I thought it was neat she showed no fear of me, and let me get close to her, I got to watch her chase some bugs around, and she seemed rather normal. I have experienced birds being somewhat friendly before, actually taking bugs out of my hand as I dug through flower beds, so I didn't think too much about her not being afraid of me.

I took a few pictures of her, as I was watching her. I noticed she wouldn't fly more than just a couple feet at a time. And started thinking maybe something was wrong with her.

I went back into the house for a bit, and when I went back outside she was standing in the driveway, next to my car with her eyes closed.

It wasn't long after that, she tucked her beak under her wing, and puffed herself up. A sure sign that something was wrong with her.

I decided to take her to the vet, and I'm sorry to say she didn't make it that far, she died on the way there. I have no idea what she died from, maybe she got into some poison somewhere, or maybe she was just old, I imagine it could have been any number of things. I don't use any pesticides in my yard, so unless she feasted on some bugs that had been sprayed someplace else I doubt that was the cause. And judging by the colors on this bird, I am most likely wrong about is being a she. I wonder if one day, this little bird who greeted me here on earth for a short period of time, will one day greet me when I get to heaven, I'm fairly certain it will.

Hummingbird Update

It has been raining the past couple of days, but the hummingbird is doing well, she is staying safe and dry under the eves of the shop, while she keeps those eggs warm.



I noticed yesterday that the hummingbird was still bringing in new material to add on to her nest.

With all the rain, the blackberry bushes started to droop down, and the branch her nest was on was getting lower, and was at an agle that was tilting her nest, I tied one of the vines back by opening the window, and pulling it back with some ribbon, and tied it off to a nail just inside the window, allowing me close the window back up. Then I propped the branch back up with a small alder tree I chopped down so it can be used as a brace to keep the vine from falling forward any more.
Her nest is now upright again, and under the eves a little better to help her stay dry. She seems quite happy with it.

When I went out this morning on my first trip to check on how she was doing, there were three deer by the shop, and wouldn't you know it! I didn't have the camera with me lol! Yet they do eat the leaves from the berry bushes, so I'm sure she also has to deal with the deer pulling on the branches as they tear the leaves off.

After I returned to the house I was filling the coffee pot with water and looking out the kitchen window and saw a Pileated Woodpecker at the wood pile, chopping away on the piece of wood that's used as a chopping block. I grabbed my camera and got a few shots of him.

Seems no sooner did I sneak up close enough to start getting some decent shots, the battery light started flashing on the camera. But at least I a got a few pictures of it that aren't too bad.

We may as well enjoy some of the other wildlife that is attracted to my yard while we wait for those hummingbird eggs to hatch. So don't be surprised if you start seeing a few photos of other critters posted here.

Hummingbird Keeping Her Eggs Warm

A view of the hummingbirds nest from above. I'm trying not to take too many photos from the outside of the shop. From what I have read other critters might see you in the area and come to check things out later.







She mostly kept her eggs warm today, it was an overcast day,was nice to see she got a break from the sun hitting the nest. Somehow it looks like more work for her to keep the eggs shaded than it does to lay on them to keep them warm.

From what I have been reading on hummingbirds, she only has a week or two to go before those eggs hatch.

On another note, here's another visitor that came to my yard today, not a very good shot of him, or maybe it's a her. But thought it was interesting. This is the second owl I've had in my yard this week, the other one didn't have the white around it's neck like this one does.

Hummingbird Is Taking Good Care Of Her Eggs

Well here she is, coming in for a landing. she perched on the side of her nest for a bit early this evening. I noticed when the sun hits the nest she sits above the eggs to shade them, holding herself up off the eggs, to keep them from getting too warm.

She continues each morning to bring in new material for her nest. Here's how it looked this evening.

I watched her chase off a sparrow that had landed too close to her nest today, she didn't want that little bird around her blackberry patch. It was quite a sight to see.

More Hummingbird Photos From Today

Just another daily update with new photos from today. Don't know what she was doing in this shot, she seems to be stretching a bit. She is still adding on to her nest as she incubates the eggs, and prepares for her little hatchlings.





She is spending lots of time on her nest, and doesn't seem to be the least bit bothered by me being on the other side of the window.

Tending To Her Eggs And Nest.

The hummingbird is staying quite busy, tending to both her eggs and her nest. She's still adding on to the lining of her nest, while spending lots of time sitting on her eggs. I would say it was about one week from the time she started to build her nest, to the time she layed the eggs.

Hummingbird Now Has Two Eggs!

Went out to see how the hummingbird was doing today, and she was sitting on her nest, waited a bit for her to go off and feed, and found she now has two eggs.






I will get some more shots of her later today when the lighting is better. It should be interesting to watch her while waiting for the eggs to hatch.

Sitting Pretty

The hummingbird is content to sit on her egg today. She still has just one, maybe tomorrow there will be another.

Another Egg Shot.

I was gone most of the day, when I got back I checked her nest, and it looks as though, even though she laid her first egg, she is still working on the nest. Comparing this photo with the one from this morning, I can see she has added more lining to the nest.

I cleaned her feeder this morning, and put some fresh nectar in it, I say her feeder because she has chased off all the other hummingbirds. From what I have read a nesting female will fiercely guard her food supply.

Her First Egg!

I went out this morning and took a look, and she was sitting on her nest. I also dicovered she has layed her first egg.

May 12th, She's Still At It.

As expected she was busy working on her nest again today, and you should now be up to date on where she is at with her nest building. I didn't get many shots of her today, she seemed to be bringing in more fluffly stuff for the lining, and spent a little more time resting on the nest today, it was a little cold today, and windy, but she was still busy at work.

Here's how her nest looked today, as you can see she's added a lot to her nest once again, I'm sure it wont be too long before she lays a couple eggs in it.

Another shot of her nest from the end of tonight. quite a difference from the first day I discovered it.

May 11th Still Building Her Nest

Looks like another day of nest building for this little hummer. The day was a little overcast, but warm, giving me better lighting conditions for Photographing her.







She brought a feather today, and some moss, cobwebs, and various other sundries. It's interesting seeing what she brings to add to her nest.

I'm not sure if she is stretching her wings here, or pressing the lining of the nest down to form it. either way it's fun watching her.




One more shot of her nest so far from inside the shop. As you can see she's making good progress!

One Busy Little Hummingbird! May10th

The hummingbird has been busy bringing in new supplies for her nest, in this picture she has what could be some fluff from the cat tails, I do see hummingbirds collecting it from time to time, they like to use it along with other fluffy plant stuff to line their nest with. Makes for good insulation to help keep the eggs warm.


Other things I have seen them collecting would include dog fur, and dandilion seed heads.


She uses her beak to weave moss in with the spider webs for the outside of her nest. She builds her nest by herself with no help from the male hummingbird.
















Her nest seems to be coming along quite nicely now, I went back out at night and got a couple more pictures of it from outside while she wasn't there. you should be able to see the changes she has made.

She has added quite a bit to her little nest,

I sure am thankful I didn't chop it down!

One more shot taken from the inside of the shop to show how she is lining her nest. She seems to actually build up the lining as she builds the outside, and is building it up around her body, custom made just for her! Probably a good thing the male doesn't help her with this task.

What is This?

On May 8th, I was chopping down some blackberry bushes when I noticed a small bit of moss, and fluff, stuck to one of the branches. It seemed to be an odd place for moss to just be stuck. I thought maybe it's the start of a hummingbirds nest, I couldn't be sure though since I have never seen one before in my life. The vine it is on is no larger than a standard pencil.

I figured maybe it was best to stop chopping and keep an eye on it, to see if a hummingbird came to it or not. It is just outside the window of my shop, so I went into the shop, and wasn't watching for very long, when a hummingbird flew up and landed on it, added something and flew away again, I can't even tell you how excited I was to find this little treasure amongst the thorns.

The blackberry bushes are staying put now, and if you would like to join me in watching how this hummingbird progresses with her nest, then you may want to bookmark this blog. I will be updating almost daily with photos that show how this little hummer is doing.




This another view of her nest, from higher up, at a little different angle, lookes a little more like a nest in this shot. You can see the photos in a larger size by clicking on them.







This shot of her nest is from the other side, you should be able to see some of the things she used to build it with better, including the cobwebs she uses to hold everything together.