The year round hummers have names. Meet Star.
Star got the name because she is my star poser and lets me get quite close. She often sleeps with me a couple of feet away which is incredibly cute! She looks about ready to nod off now.
Yep, here she goes, snoozing the day away. I can identify with a hummer who likes her naps!
This is Flash. He strobes his intense colors at will and frequently. He tends to be a bit more hyper and dominant than laid back Star.
He would never sleep in my presence, but he loves to zoom at great velocity over the top of my head, making my hair flutter!
At the feeder he perches at the back and hides, peeking at me occasionally out of curiosity.
Piloto is Spanish for pilot.
He drinks from the feeder only while in flight, never perching.
Piloto is named for his flying ability.
He is always in super fast motion and is an expert in flying backwards.
He loves to fly about a hundred feet in the air and dive bomb down at up to 6o mph!
Darth is named for his black helmet and his cranky behavior. He will frequently dislodge Star from her perch while napping, just because he can! He is quite entertaining to watch and harmless, albeit the other hummers do find him annoying.
The spring migration will be starting any day now. Up to 40 additional hummingbirds will descend on The Holler. I will hang additional feeders to accommodate the numbers and we have nest boxes going up in the center courtyard. By mid-April The Holler will be humming!
Cheers to you from the The Holler Hummer locals~
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Thank you for more beautiful photos!
Your welcome, I can resist taking photos of the hummingbirds only for a certain amount of time. Like an episodic addiction~ 😉
So cute that they have names and “personalities”….this is only possible where the photography is masterful and the love of nature paramount. I think I’m in love with Star.
I am totally in love with Star. It is unusual to find such a mellow and relaxed hummingbird. We tend to watch each other. If I wander away, he frequently shows up in a nearby flower. <3
Beautiful photos. I was thinking you should be seeing hummers on their way north. We don’t see them until later in the summer when they start heading south down the Rio Grande Valley.
I am expecting the hordes arrival any day now, with the peack reached by mid-April and lasting until fall. Only the locals stay year round, for the migrators The Holler is simply their summer home! 😉
I know I always seem to say this Cindy but these are fantastic! These hummers are just gigantic in these photos. That last photo of Flash, with the color around his face all lit up, is particularly intense. They sure do have their own individual personalities don’t they? I look forward to more posts like these as we approach the height of hummer season! ~Lynn 🙂
Thank goodness I have friends like you who love the birdies Lynne. <3 <3 The main Holler entertainment for us is about to begin, and I need to get geared up for changing two, two quart feeders daily!
Your pictures are always so beautiful. When we plant sunflowers, the hummingbirds come not for the seeds but for the flowers and they are so pretty to watch. Keep up the good work. A.G.
So happy you have the hummingbirds in your garden. They definitely enhance our lives with their amazing personalities~
I have run out of adjectives Cindy in speaking to your photos. Wow!
You are very kind and most motivating! Thank you~
Amazing shots, Cindy. I love their fuzzy heads. 🙂
Aren’t they just adorable birds. They look so cuddly in the photos, of course they are way too tiny to cuddle!
Hummingbirds are one of my favorite hummingbirds. Thank you for showing beautiful pictures
Thank you more for appreciating them!
🙂
These guys are too cute. And I love the names that reflect their personality 🙂 Stunning shots!
Thanks my friend. I look greatly forward to following your ospreys during another nesting season!
Such beautiful birds!! I finally got to see one in my backyard! It was like hitting the lottery lol. Wonderful photos, Cindy ❤️
Yes, they are like some sort of manna, direct from heaven! I never cease to be amazed by them~
We already have 3 hummingbirds ! !
YaY!! I am happy for you. You are doing things right and you should soon have more, which means you are a lucky person~ <3
Pheee-nomenal.
That is EXACTLY what they are! 🙂
Lovely photos. How cute that you’ve given them all names! Their personality differences are very interesting, It’s as if you were describing my kids. Thanks for sharing. Hope you’ve been well. ☺
“It’s as if you were describing my kids.”
Cracking up….this is a priceless comment, and so true. Do you think hummingbirds parody humans?
I think so sometimes… 😉
Quite possibly. I never really sat to observe them like you’ve had the opportunity so I had no idea they had such distinct personalities. Our creator is so wonderful, I bet He’s smiling at our little discovery ☺
I know he must be happy when we can figure one small thing out! <3
How fun and engaging your little friends are! Great pics!
They are the bestest friends.
I went to have a blood test which is not something I love, in “civilization” which is also not something I love.
I looked out the window and who should be flying there?
A hummingbird, in the concrete jungle.
I felt comforted.
Sweet!
Sensational pictures Cindy! The best I have ever seen of these beautiful creatures….. Thank you so much. Love their names too. Happy napping!
Laughing and thank you. A happy hummer, and human, is one who is napping! 🙂 <3
Laughing here! Xxxx
🙂
Stunning pictures. Thanks for posting them 🙂
Thank you much more for appreciating them Christopher~
Great shots! Not everyone can capture them so well. Have fun!
Thanks much & cheers!
I miss these beauties! We don’t have hummers here, unfortunately. Love these pics! 😘
So pleased you do and thank you!
You are getting to know them quite well, and seeing their different personalities shine out in one way or another is just amazing. They are such beautiful and dainty birds but alas, we don’t get them here. However, I get to enjoy them through your incredible photos! You are such a good photographer.
I think I’ve asked you before, but what kind of camera do you use and do you use a zoom lens to capture these exquisite little birds?
Hi Barb. I use the Sony HX400 which has an adjustable zoom lens up to 1200mm equivalent. All of these photos were shot in zoom, but none at full zoom. So pleased you enjoyed my friend and cheers to you~
I hope you don’t mind Cindy, but I’ve shared your post on my Passionate About Pets page on Facebook. I want everyone to see those cute little hummingbirds and your incredible photography.
You are very thoughtful and most appreciated! Thank you for your kindness~ <3
When we lived in Central America, we had 5 species of hummingbirds – my favorite was a big blackish one, who had a purple vest and curved beak, but that one and the others were bullied by a tiny red headed one, who had a short straight beak and the habit of attacking them like a kamikaze… I could never get any good photos of them, so am very impressed that you’ve accomplished this.
So happy you love the hummers! I have seen the hummingbirds in Central America. They have them in great numbers and beautiful variety. How exciting it must have been to live there! I would love to go back and see more of them.
We lived in an area where migratory birds from both North and South America wintered. That was one of my favorite parts of living there. One year, ‘bird counters’ logged 137 species within a half kilometer of our house.
Wow! That is simply incredible!
Hummingbirds are the reason if I had life again I would live in North America. These extraordinary photos made me all happy and sad all at once! The photos are wonderful, and the birds are out of this world. I’m with Cynthia on this one – Star is my friend…
Ahhhh, your comment touches me. I know precisely what you mean when you say happy and sad at the same time, that bittersweet feeing. Hummingbirds are just very special. Ancient people in Central America believed they were spiritual messengers, and carved massive hummingbirds into stone plateaus that can only be diserned or seen from atop very high mountains. They lived closely with them and revered them. I understand this and agree with it. Hummingbirds are magical creatures and they are not afraid of humans like other wild birds are. I love them and I can tell you do too. <3
What a handsome little hummer community! Darth sounds like a kid I knew in school – always stirring up the pot. Do you know how far their typical migration journey is?
Some banded Rufous hummingbirds were documented completing a 3,500 mile annual migration from Alaska. Theses smallest birds in the world, fly across the Gulf of Alaska which boggles my mind. Some hummers make up their minds to stay in one place, like our year round hummers. Unlike other birds they will choose when environmental conditions allow. They amaze me.
That is amazing!
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Meet the cast of the Hummer movies over on Cindy Knokes blog. It is an aeronautical display that few of us are privileged to see but in the Holler these beautful birds gather in the spring migration and can be seen through the magic of Cindy’s camera lens.. Meet Star, Piloto, Darth, Flash and Star
You are a kind soul Sally and the hummingbirds and I are very lucky to know you. Thank you my friend and be well~ <3
Loved your photos. I so miss seeing hummingbirds. In Los Angeles we had plenty and I loved filling the feeder and watching them but I have not seen a single one since moving to Dordogne.
Sad. I can tell you miss them. Reliable garden feeding stations have allowed hummingbird populations to increase despite habitat loss. So your feeder in LA helped the species. I am sorry you no longer can do this.
Lovely pictures, Cindy. I never thought of hummingbirds as having different personalities like that. Star lives up to her name. She’s darling. 🙂 — Suzanne
She is a very secure hummingbird, not scared of anything!
Love, love, LOVE this. How great is that you are on “name basis” with these beautiful birds, goes to show they love hanging around you 🙂 and as always, the photos are wonderful. I’m having a bit of photo envy going on over here… I wish I was even just a tiny part this good… What camera do you use for your stuff (or did I ask you this already?)
You are very kind and most appreciated! Thank you. <3 My camera is a Sony HX400 with a 1200mm adjustable zoom lens.
Amazing pictures! 😀 I love watching birds.
These birds are so attractive, Cindy. 🙂
Thank you Ranu!
I love these photos! I have to tell you that I’ve been called’a humming bird on speed’ so I can relate to these little beauties!!
We don’t have these birds here in dear old England. But I wish we did. Would love to see a few of these flitting about in my garden 🙂 lovely photographs !!!
I hear you! They are so much fun. They buzz you when you are working in the garden and follow you around to see what you are doing. They are garden companions and they make really distinctive sounds, of course the humming, but also clicking.
Spectacular photos – wow!
Merci beaucoup!
Gorgeous photos. Thanks for sharing them
Thank you more for appreciating them Mary & cheers~
Magnificent!
Amazing. I have never seen a hummer asleep. Rarely have I seen one even perching to rest. Usually, they are too busy busy zimming around my head or the yard. My heart could not contain the joy of seeing 40 hummers all together. Enjoy. (:D the busy busy was a typo — I left it because it seems so appropriate.)
I would not remove the second busy, it describes them so perfectly! 🙂 Thank you Colleen~
Beautiful photographs!
Mille grazie!
Amazing photos Cindy. The variety of hummers you have there is super. We have, for the most part, only the ruby throated hummers. Our variety depends on male, female, mature, immature and that is about it. Take care.
We have the rubies too. They are a joy and a tad hyper. We have been getting more Rufous which pleases me. Any species of hummingbird is a joy to have in one’s garden and I am very glad you have them Wally. Cheers to you my friend~ <3
Great photos! I usually can’t get close enough for anything worthwhile.
Sitting quietly tends to work. They get used to your presence and eventually will buzz up to your face as if to ask, “What ARE you doing here?” 😉 😉
Such stunning captures, Cindy! I adore hummingbirds <3
So glad you do love them. They deserve your love! <3
schön ist das, wünsche schon jetzt eine gute Osterwoche, liebe Cindy
Vielen dank mein lieber Freund und Froliche Dienstag! <3
These are gorgeous and so close I see every little detail. They’re so tiny and c.u.t.e.!
Saw a few hummingbirds when I was young, then a few in British Columbia a few years ago. Now these. Thank YOU. Love them and your description of their personalities. Fantastic photography, Cindy. <3 <3
I am so happy you like the hummingbirds and thank you for your thoughtful comments! Be well my friend~ <3
So great to see those close ups, thanks!
You are very welcome & cheers to you!
Those photos were amazing! I have never seen hummingbirds in such detail. Thank you!
It makes me happy that you enjoyed them and you are most welcome!
Schöne Bilder. Ich wünsche dir frohe und sonnige Ostertage…
Machs guet…
Vielen Dank, du bist ein sehr guter Freund Ernst! <3
When Don and I built our little cabin in the woods, we had many hummingbirds…it was wonderful. We had feeders on two sides of the house and the hummers would zoom around chasing each other from feeder to feeder. Don and I used to wonder what would happen if they were coming round just as we were going out the side door. OUCH!!! We could just imagine tiny hummer bodies sticking out of us 🙂
My son was just asking about this. We will be having dinner outside on the side patio in summer where the feeders are, and 40 or so hummers will be zinging around our heads. I think they are such percision flyers that this will not likely happen, unless they are in escape mode from combat, in which case it could. It never has happened to me though in 8 years at The Holler.
It never happened to Don or me either 🙂 but it wasn’t ’cause the hummers didn’t try 😀
Can not wait for my pairs to arrive 🙂
I can well imagine. I feel this way about the arrival of the orioles too!
I get them at same time as hummers and the two kinds demand lots of Grape Jelly and about 7 pounds of White sugar and suet and mealworms oh and my Apple blossoms 🙂
Sounds very familiar Eunice. Nothing is too good for our birdies! <3
Beautiful images Cindy! What type of camera do you use for birds? My iPhone 6 just doesn’t cut it! LOL I am in the market and would love your input.
cate
If you want to take close ups I recommend my camera, the Sony HX400. It has an adjustable lens that can zoom to 1200mm equivalent and everything in between. It only costs somewhere around $300 so it is not super pricey.
Wow. Thank you. I will look into that one! 😀
Impressive photos of those quick little things. Beautiful and I love they all have names!
They had to have names to match their outsize personalities! 😉
What truly fantastic photographs!!!!!!! Just loved them and spent so much time looking at the wonderful detail. <3
Awwww, makes me happy! Thank you~
These are amazing – a visual feast. Did you take these yourself? How??!! I’ve tried to capture normal garden birds and only end up with a blur. Oh, and I love their names.
Thank you so much! I sit in a chair near either the bushes the hummers hang out in or near the feeders. I use zoom and get the focus first and then just sit and click and enjoy the hummingbird antics. My camera is a Sony HX400 which has adjustable zoom that gives me lots of flexibility.