I thought it might be time to post some more Holler Hummers.
Hummingbirds in your backyard,
make everyday brighter.
They accompany me on my gardening rounds,
and buzz the camera when I am taking their photos.
If the feeder’s empty,
they swarm my office window until I get up and fill them!
They are quite persuasive,
for such wee tiny critters, weighing only .11 ounces!
Cheers to you from The Holler’s ever entertaining colibris~
Create their own vibrant light.
Phaninopepla, dark as midnight,
in full light, is radiant dark blue, with deep red eyes.
Male orioles, kings of beauty, rock yellow and black,
while male grosbeaks flash black, orange and white.
Mr Jay will drive our blues away,
as hummingbirds fly their own private rainbows!
Cheers to you from The Holler’s colorful creatures~
Coming home means hanging out with the hummers.
I don’t worry about them when I’m gone.
I just miss them.
My husband, the actual-factual, logical-biostatistician, said incredulously, “They fly up to me like they missed me.”
He’s not used to thinking like this,
but he can’t help noticing such obvious birdy behavior.
Speaking of birdy behavior, we are having a problem this year.
The snoozing little capitalist you see above is dominating two quart-sized feeders and relentlessly attacking and driving all hummers off who try to feed. He spends more time hoarding nectar than feeding and snoozes all the time because he’s exhausted from all his effort. Of course he can’t even begin to drink this much nectar!
You can see him perched on the wire above the feeder, waiting to attack any bird that dares to drink! We have three feeders now spaced far apart to control him, one in a bush that is impossible for him to monitor, but when I shut one of “his” feeders down, he goes to dominate another. We have never had such a greedy little guy and he reigns unchallenged. I hope he’s not learning this behavior from watching humans! 😉
Cheers to you from the harmonious Holler Hummers….(and the one little greedy guy)~
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~
I couldn’t do another post on Holler birds without including The Holler Hummers could I?
The year-round hummers are mellow and co-operative.
Right, and I am the Queen of Bavaria!
We have oak groves full of all sorts of birds including droves of Acorn Woodpeckers in their smart red pope caps.
There are Western Scrub Jays,
who don’t like being photographed,
and very shy Western Bluebirds,
who like it even less!
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without words
And never stops at all.” (Emily Dickinson)
Cheers to you from your Holler feathered friends~
Okay, I’ll fess up!
It’s not the nectar.
Here’s all you have to do.
Just whistle Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida.”
Okay……. you should do it in tune. They’ll skid to a stop in mid-air.
They are mesmerized by “Viva la Vida!”
They will stop what they are doing, and watch, and listen!
It is best if you can sound just like this:
If you do, they will be stunned into flightless stupor. They will sit politely. They will not try to kill each other, and they will watch you, like this:
It’s unheard of for them to sit politely and share a branch. What can I say? They love Coldplay?
Or is it David Garret?
Of course, it could also be that my whistling is so out of tune and discordant, it renders them dumbstruck and flightless.
Whatever. I suggest you try it. Just whistle Vida while you work and see what flies over!
Cheers to you from my marvelous, musically-inclined, little hummers!
These are my favorite jewels! (Click to enlarge).
Whenever I go on a trip, I worry about the hummingbirds.
I am always relieved to find them hale, hearty, and bickersome!
How long can I force myself to go without posting about The Holler Hummingbirds?
Just about as long as my trip!
I can’t resist them!
Can you?
Cheers to you from all The Holler Hummers (and their dutiful human!)
Have you seen a hummingbird stand in the air,
as if he hadn’t a care,
supported by nothing but air?
Have you seen a sight more fair,
than a hummingbird floating in air?
But even the best, must finally….
rest.
“Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better.” Albert Einstein
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Henry David Thoreau
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“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” Henry David Thoreau
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“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” Christopher Mc Candless
“If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”
St. Francis of Assisi
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“Earth Laughs in Flowers.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
