My hummingbirds left our house in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. I call my yard here the hummingbird maternity ward. We have lots of nests in our
established foliage and we've been fortunate to see the nests and some of them are on low enough branches that we can pull the branch down and watch
the babies develope. And the hummingbird mommas come back to the same nest year after year. We watch the eggs hatch and the babies grow and leave
the nests. We watch the babies hang around in the bushes and then one day they're gone. This year all of the hummers left so early. I was at our
place in Phoenix last week and lots of hummers were still there. I hear they winter in Mexico (lucky them!) so maybe they were on they're winter
migration. Have any of you seen them in Baja yet? I'd love to hear that my little birds are there and that they winter with you.SkyMedBarbara - 10-17-2007 at 05:57 AM
We are in Loreto, actually Nopolo, 7 km south of Loreto and I have two feeders off my backporch (going on 16 years) and we get hundreds of them year
round. I refill the feeders every second day with 2 cups of sugar water each. I have another outside my livingroom window (so I can see it watching
T. V. ,me watching, not the Hummers..) I have two big sunflower silk plants in a big live potted plant in the livingroom and they fly right up to the
widow to investigate after feeding. They are just the cutest things and we spend hours watching them while reading on our back porch..A few years back
we had GOLD ones but have never seen them since...every seen a Gold one? We have lots of trees in our backyard but have never seen a nest.....maybe
I'm just not looking for the little things....enjoy.....BarbaraBob and Susan - 10-17-2007 at 06:01 AM
your birds are here
they arrived day before yesterday...
susan has the feeder up...
we'll take good care of them until next summerPappy Jon - 10-17-2007 at 04:07 PM
They live 12 months in the Palm Springs region.
- Anna's and Costa's all the time,
- black-chinned during the summer,
- rufous move though in the spring and fall, but don't hang in summer.David K - 10-17-2007 at 04:34 PM
May 27, 2007 about 2 miles downstream from Mision Santa Maria...
David K - 10-17-2007 at 04:35 PM
again...
Natalie Ann - 10-17-2007 at 04:40 PM
docsmom - They're all wrong - I have your hummers in Berkeley, they must have headed northwest. I was in the garden earlier today with no less than
12 of the little guys buzzing around my freshly washed hair. This year they have been plentiful, and I still have lots of flowers in bloom and no
feeders right now. BTW the Allen's hummers are gold throated, we have them here.
Many of our members have seen my baby hummer photos and have read the story. If you haven't seen this, check it out:
That looks like Don Jimmy Smith. His daughter, Sare, insists that he watches over her, in the form of a hummingbird, wherever she goes............
Hope she chimes in.bajabound2005 - 10-17-2007 at 09:01 PM
We are just south of Ensenada; we are filling our feeders 2x a day right now and we have 5 of them! Migration is definitely "in the air".Marinero - 10-17-2007 at 09:04 PM
Forget the bird books...There are lots of hummers here and they don't match the pictures. Colibris...... Hummingbirds in Spanis. Also, Chupaflores..docsmom - 10-17-2007 at 09:43 PM
Nomads,
I'm so happy to hear that my babies are with you and you're taking great care of them! We have such fun watching them when they're here and when one
day they're gone our patio becomes less fun. I'm happy to know that you'll all be enjoying them until they return to me!
Nena,
I hadn't previously seen your post and narrative. I just checked out your photos and they're great! Since we've had nests here for so many years
I've had the pleasure of watching the nests being built, the eggs being layed, the babies hatching and then finally the birds leaving the nests. It's
interesting that from my observation there are always 2 eggs, each layed on consecutive days. Then we watch the babies develop always one day apart
and they always leave the nest one day apart. I think the timeline is 14 days incubation and 21 more days before they leave the nest. I may have
those numbers reversed. But we always know when the baby is going to leave the nest because the day before it flies away it hops up onto the edge of
the nest and sits precariously, rocking back and forth, trying to get it's feet under it and exercising it's wings. My little hummers are the
delight of my summer! We have other birdfeeders around and have lots of sparrows, finches & doves eating at all times, but the hummers are the
highlight of our patio wildlife.
And one more thing Nena.......... What the heck are hummers doing on the central CA coast in the winter? Are they going to freeze to death? I
know I would......
Lets get them a ticket on Southwest to the warmer climates if they need it! Bob reports that Susan will take care of them in the warmth of Baja.
Wait. Maybe lets forget about the hummers and you and I go to Mulege and let Bob & Susan take care of us!!!!! Natalie Ann - 10-17-2007 at 10:07 PM
docsmom - We're a bit north of central California, and our area is quite the Mediterranean climate - never too warm, but generally never gets too
cold. Once the heavy rains set in, my resident hummers will usually head south.
I have a large wild garden which seems to have something blooming year round. I do take away the feeders this time of year - don't want to encourage
those little birdies to linger.
The large numbers and good variety of hummers I've been seeing the last couple of weeks are definitely a part of the migration. I've seen a couple of
types recently that I've never seen before.
It's hard to see a hummingbird and not smile, feel a bit uplifted in the heart. You are really lucky to have an area where you can see the nests each
year - and it sounds like you have a really good viewing area for any number of birds. Thank you for sharing your hummer stories with us.
NenaNatalie Ann - 10-17-2007 at 10:08 PM
oh yeah docsmom... I like your idea about Mulege. I'm ready to visit Bob and Susan any time you are. Eli - 10-18-2007 at 06:50 AM
Oh what a wonder of photos,thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and pictures, makes my day. And Nena, it was great to go back and see those
shots, oh muchos, muchos thanks Nena. And Bernie is right, Bill's picture does remind of Don Jimmy. Must admit, I never met a hummingbird that didn't
carry the Warriors spirit, and the ol Man did have a Warrior's Spirit. even when he was alive That is what the Aztecs believe, ya know, that the
hummingbird is an incarnation of the dead warriors spirit returned with messages from the Gods.oladulce - 10-18-2007 at 08:20 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by SkyMedBarbara
.A few years back we had GOLD ones but have never seen them since...every seen a Gold one? Barbara
Barbara, are these your gold ones? These are Rufous Hummingbirds. We see them in Jan/Feb across the peninsula from you and often there's only one
amongst the loads of Costas that visit our yard.
You can barely see the gold on the sides of many of the females, but the males are beauties. They are feisty little guys and you can often hear them
coming- the wings of the males sound like when we were kids and clipped playing cards in our bicycle spokes.
The male Costas are so territorial of the feeders that I put one up in another part of the yard just for Rufous. The Rufous seem to appear one day and
don't stick around long in Baja. In San Clemente I see them year round now.
This article tells much more about the Rufous than any of my bird books do. Rufous
[Edited on 10-18-2007 by oladulce]
vandenberg - 10-18-2007 at 10:42 AM
Well, the migratory ones have shown up in droves here in Nopolo. We have 3 feeders out and we have dozens in the trees, bougainvilleas and other
plants waiting their turn to feed. They do make for great entertainment all winter. Very feisty and sure let it be known when the trough runs dry.
Comical, when they buzz your face and ears and actually make you feel the air current created by their wings. Another Baja wonder.Gnome-ad - 10-19-2007 at 10:54 AM
The pics and words here are wonderful - almost as wonderful as hummers in "person"! Thanks!
