
Each hummer wants this plant all to themself.

Between sips of nectar, they are constantly battling for dominion.

The plant is a blooming Century Plant or Agave Americana, that is the largest I have ever seen, big enough to feed hundreds of hummers. It is well over thirty feet tall and as wide as a telephone pole

Century Plants produce many offspring in their lives and we have lots of them at The Holler. You may notice the plant looks like a giant asparagus stalk. This is because it is related to the asparagus family. The Centurion stands guard by our front gate.

Other birdy pollinators, like orioles, love the nectar too, but they are far more civilized about sharing. The most they do is chatter endlessly at each other.

Bees are attracted en-mass to the centurion which blooms only once in a lifetime, and many 1000’s of bees are busily gathering pollen in the huge masses of flowers.

Century plants are not accurately named. They each live 10-30 years. Soon the entire plant will die, and the hummers will find something else to fight over.

Cheers to you from our giant pollen creator and the beautiful bickering pollinators~
So well observed, so magnificently captured. Thank you, Cindy.
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Thank you much more for letting me meet you ❤
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Cindy, this is magnificent and oh, so beautiful!
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Oh Jennie, thank you sincerely ❤
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You’re very welcome, Cindy. 🙂
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❤ ❤
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Learned something new again today. I knew hummers were very territorial but did not know about the tree. I used to have lots of feeders in my back yard and still they would fight over the nectar. Silly birds. Great photos, as always.
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Yes. You get it. But I am always so struck, the silly birds can fly away from us and be perfectly fine. Since I was a little kid, I didn’t get why they were so favored to be able to do this. I wish I could.
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These were beguiling and enrapturing.
But I’ not jealous of your amazing photographicalisationing skills, just love the results.
TTFNski ♥
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You are a sweet man and I wish I could come and visit you. I would bring you food cooked at The Holler by yours truly, and flowers grown at The Holler by yours truly. But, I would know enough to ask you what you might like to eat. I can cook almost anything, and I would cook it for you.
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Bless you, Cindy. ♥
We can dream. (Well I do, hehehe!)
X
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❤
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The Century plants look amazing.🙂
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It is amazing. When it grows it’s flower so stalk suddenly, and spectacturaly, because it is going to die, you are amazed! It is such a beautiful swan song for every living thing.
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☺
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Your beautiful photographs never cease to amaze me Cindy.
Best wishes and kind regards, do hope you are keeping well.
Ian
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Thank you for your thoughtfulness Ian & all the best to you.
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What an amazing plant! Such beautiful photos too!
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Thank you Emma & hope all is well with you ❤
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Wonderful pictures. 😁
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Much appreciated & Thank you!
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That is a very nice picture of the tall plant. I am sure those little flying fellows love it too and no wonder they want it all by themselves.
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Thanks my friend & hope all is well with you.
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Such amazing little birds and those are spectacular looking trees too Cindy 🙂
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Mother Nature rocks ❤
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Fantastic photographs, Cindy!
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Thank you & so pleased you enjoyed them!
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impressive photo skills, cindy!
glad the hummers won 🙂
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Muchas gracias! The hummers are masters at zero sum games.
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wow, thank you, cindy 🙂
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❤
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That is still a long time for a plant. I love the birds and bees who visit there and help continue the cycle. 🙂
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It is wonderful. The Holler hums with pollinators.
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Wowww. Fascinating, as always, with drop-dead, beautiful photos. Hummin’ in the Holler, indeed.
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Thank you John & be well my friend~
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Wow! Perfect Shots
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Merci beaucoup mon ami~
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What an amazing plant. And you pictures are superb. With the blue sky, just a feast for the eyes.
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So kind & so appreciated! Have a wonderful week ❤
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Pingback: Holler Hummers Battle The Centurion~ Cindy Knoke | Sue Vincent's Daily Echo
Mille grazie Sue & cheers too!
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Thank you so much. What a fabulous ‘nature story.’ The photography is outstanding, the humming birds adorable, despite their warring ways, and what a striking, unusual tree! x…
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Such a thoughtful, kind comment. Thank you & cheers to you~
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Cindy – You’ve put my admiration for humingbirds into the photos with perfection! – Susan
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I ❤ people who ❤ hummingbirds!
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Just so beautiful Cindy 💚 such a gift to see 🤓☺️ thank you!
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👍 😍
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Beautiful!
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Grazie~
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Love the hummingbirds! To me they always deliver a message of happiness. Doesn’t just looking at them make you feel rejuvenated? I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend! ❤
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After watching hummingbirds all my life, here is what I can tell you, they are spiritual blessings ❤
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Your hummer pictures are so wonderful and fascinating!
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I ❤ people who ❤ hummers.
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Cindy, thank you for more lovely photographs!
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Thank you Charles for being such a wonderful friend.
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Reblogged this on charles french words reading and writing and commented:
Here are more lovely photographs from Cindy Knoke!
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Amazing photos!
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Honored. Thank you.
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Oh wow! That capture of the hummer fluttering its little wings – priceless 🙂 x
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Thanks my friend, hummingbirds are priceless ❤
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❤
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That’s a seriously cool tree, to just have hanging around in the backyard. And to have a gang of hummers doing their aerial acrobatics amongst the blooms is just icing on the cake.
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Life is beautiful everywhere. Thank you Dave.
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What great photos! You have to be quick to get those.
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Thank you very much. The hummers keep my reflexes quick!
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This is fabulous, Cindy! Wonderful post. Your shots are wonderful–so crisp and clear. I didn’t know the hummers were “aggressive” about their source of nectar. Interesting.
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Beautiful, tiny, and highly argumentative. Thanks so much Patti & cheers to you~
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You too, Cindy. I hope you’re enjoying the last bit of the summer.
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❤ ❤
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Our resident and migrating birds are already loading up for winter…. hmmm, mid-August? Seems a bit early, but many of our sunflowers went to seed two weeks ago. Nature must know something that the weather channel does not. – Oscar
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That is interesting. Weather patterns are definitely in flux and birds do tend to know things well before we do.
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Knowing how quickly hummers zip around, Cindy I’m astounded at your skill as a photographer. Both the clarity and the compositions are amazing. I enjoyed learning about the centurion plants too. Hugs on the wing.
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I have the most awesome friends ❤ Thank you Teagan & hugs back to you~
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Why is it they do that? Especially when there is enough for the whole bunch
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Just gorgeous, Cindy. Hummingbirds are such beautiful birds.
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They are something aren’t they! Love to you Rob.
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Thank you, Cindy.
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❤
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Amazing world!
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It is! And our only job is to not mess it up.
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Terrific photos – it’s amazing how still their bodies are when their wings are a blur of speed.
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Ah, thank you! Life is so amazing, and so much of it happens so quickly, we can’t see it.
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Amazing series. I like the pictures a lot.
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You make me happy I posted. Thank you & cheers to you.
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These are stunning, Cindy. I have never moved quickly enough to get a single such photo. But today there was a rabbit lying out on our lawn, cosy as you please, not caring if we took a photo.
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I’ve never seen this Century plant before, isn’t nature’s patterns amazing.
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Mother Nature rocks the planet and all of us lucky enough to be on it ❤
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Bonjour mon Ami , Amie ET BELLE CINDY

Ma richesse est mon amitié
C’est à toi que je la donne
Elle est pour moi
Un gage de bonne foi
Accepte ce présent
C’est le cadeau le plus important
Qu’on puisse faire à notre époque
C est avec ces petits mots que je passe te souhaiter
Une bonne journée , une belle semaine et plein de bonnes choses au sein de ta demeure
Gros bisous.
Bernard
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Merci Bernard.
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Amazing photos. the hummers are little rascals, aren’t they, but so cute. I’ve never seen a Century Plant before your photos.
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I am happy you enjoyed and appreciate you for telling me.
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So good to see your hummers at the holler. And an oriole. We have some high up in the chopos, poplars by the now dry stream.
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I can’t believe how much where you live, looks like where I live. I am always struck by this when I see your photos.
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Interesting observation, but we don’t have hummers and coyotes. Just read Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer. That was so close to perhaps the different kinds of rural folk here in our area of Spain. There were wolves here in the the 1950s but Franco pursued persecution policies. There are big cattle quintas on dehesa land, which at least keeps Spain well populated with trees.
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I thought there still were wolves in Spain about 2-3000. People even hunt them. I watched this movie a while back which is a fictional depiction of an earlier time in Spain with wolves and people living in the wild mountains that gave me an entirely different view of Spain than what I am accustomed to. I was fascinated by the mountain towns and started looking them up after the movie:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skin_of_the_Wolf
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Yes, the wolves are in Northern Portugal and Cantabria. A few in the eastern Sierra Morena around Jaen. I suppose I mean most other parts and our own region will have lived with wolves till not so long ago. On a recent trip to a cheese making the owner showed the wolf collars the great big Mastin dogs would wear. The use of these dogs is still encouraged in the North. No one asked the government for compensation then!
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Amazing history and still happening!
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Thanks for link, I will look up.
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❤
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They are fierce little birds!
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So fierce and strong, and so utterly tiny, it is unbelievable.
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These are great Cindy!!
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Thank you ❤
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