Posted on 04/12/2008 7:59:57 PM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER
The Hummingbirds are settled in and used to me again, I can move around the yard and they accept me as part of the landscape. There is a Wren building a nest in the rafters of the old shed, I'm hoping she will settle down and pose for me too. I really hate to go to town this time of year, afraid I'll miss something.
http://www.pbase.com/tsiya/root
http://photobucket.com/albums/v244/tsiya/
http://cabbagehammock.blogspot.com/
Wow, these birds don't have much of a glidewing- flapping all the time. That's very impressive.
A few years ago we had about ten hummers drinking from our feeder. That was when I noticed their flying antics. We had one big feller sitting on a volleyball net just outside my kitchen window every morning who'd look left and right (180 degrees) for un-wanted 'feeders'.
He'd let some of the tiny ones feed, but would run-off others in a way that would be the envy any fighter pilot. Little Blue Angels, really. Their areobatics are, though extremely fast, quite impressive- nothing else like it.
Now that is really something, Lawd I love your hummer pictures, I bet the hummers come clear across state just to eat and have you photograph them.
I don’t think they can glide. At less than a quarter ounce weight air drag may exceed inertia, they would just stall out. The wingbeat is about 25 strokes a second. I’ve caught some wild wing positions in photos, they can go from ahead fast to reverse instantly. You never see accelleration, they are sitting, and then, hauling tail, it just happens NOW, no in between. If you have competition at the feeder, add another feeder with just a tiny bit more sugar. They can detect the sugar level and the dominant males will go to the richest sugar supply.
Thanks for the great hummingbird link. I've bookmarked it and will keep an eye on it. I'm up in the frozen Minnesota tundra so it will be awhile until the little guys return (25 degrees this morning with some snow on the ground).
We had eight hummingbirds spend the summer with us last year. It was so much fun watching their antics. If I wore a brightly colored shirt with flowers they would occasionally land on me. I can't wait until they return.
Once again, beautiful pics! Thanks so much for sharing them with us.
We spent three hours standing in 30 degree weather with snow coming down at a tax cut rally at our capital in St. Paul yesterday. Brrrr!
Now you have me really craving the warm weather and the return of the hummers. :)
They truly are Nature’s Jewels. :)
Awesome! Love the little things! They’re all heart and courage wrapped in jeweled fluff.
Fantastic !!
I saw my first ruby throat here in East Tennessee yesterday.
The only hummingbird pictures I have are from a recent trip to Peru. Like this Gould's Inca: 
incredible pics....looking for some hummers up here in the north country....have had my one feeder out...I have others....sometimes a beautiful hummer called “caliope” IIRC travels thru early in spring...hoping to see one...
I once saw a hummer try to drink from a goldfinch. The goldfinch didn't appreciate it.
Thank goodness I am on your list!
Thank you so much.
Just beautiful!
HTH, Boy Howdy that little feller is a dandy! Those little things have more power per cubic inch than a Sukhoi 26 M!
HP, Thanks for the map. It’s accurate for here!
Oh, that’s funny! :) Our goldies share our deck with the hummingbirds. It’s a regular circus. I can only imagine the goldie was not amused.
We’re starting to thaw out today. I think it actually made it to 50 degrees. I pruned the raspberries and my husband transplanted a tree our son brought home from school for arbor day last yeat. The dang thing lived after being abused in a styrofoam cup for a week. :)
But I did see the first phoebe of the year. The poor guy was hovering like a big, clumsy hummingbird, trying to snatch suet from our feeder -- which he apparently doesn't have the right kind of claws to cling to -- since there are hardly any bugs yet. He finally knocked enough off that he could drop down to the deck to eat. Pretty resourceful, I thought.
Did Jason show any signs at the rally of the vertigo he’s been talking about?
Just amazing!
I put out a feeder last year (I live in SE Michigan) but didn’t attract any hummingbirds. I did get orioles and golden finches, though. I’m putting out an oriole feeder this year, it has perches for the o’s to put their feet.
Boy, I thought I knew my birds. Can you describe a phoebe for me, please?
We have loads of juncos, red wing and yellow headed blackbirds, finches, etc. returning.
The older I get (I’m 47) the more I love the birds. I come from a long line of bird lovers. So much fun!
Thankfully, no. Jason looked great and was very steady. He told a lot of good jolks before he got serious. He is as wonderful in person as he is on the radio.
I’ve experienced that vertigo twice in my life and it is horrible.
ktlkfm.com has video from the rally. Sorry I didn’t link it, I’m lazy this Sunday evening. :)
BTW, the Red Star and Sickle has me hopping mad. “Nearly 1,000 people” they said. At least 5,000 were there. I didn’t expect anything approaching the truth, though.
They even quoted Matt Entenza saying we are taxed 32nd in the nation, when in fact we are 6th.
Fingers in ears...LA-LA-LA-LA!
How’s your tax rate in Wisconsin?
Sorry, Swampie, I don’t mean to hijack your thread!
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