Hummingbird Preview at Kleb Woods

We experienced some brutally hot weather at the beginning of August, which of course is no surprise in Texas. However low pressure and rain showers made the latter half of the month quite pleasant, by comparison. The temperatures dropped from around the 100's (we had five days of 100+ temps) to the low- to mid-90's.

So Eric and I decided to douse ourselves with bug spray and head out to Kleb Woods Nature Reserve.

They will be having a Hummingbird Festival on September 10th, but we knew there would probably be plenty of hummers at their feeders already.

We weren't disappointed :-)  The Nature Center has a nice big shady wrap-around porch and feeders are hanging under the eaves about 10 feet apart, more or less at eye level for viewers on the porch.

It's very pleasant to sit or stand in the shade while the hummers zip around between the feeders and among the bushes in the garden.

As always, you can click on the images to see a larger view.   Given the diminutive stature of these little gems, that's probably the best way to see them :-)

I lost count of the total, but there were perhaps 10 or more. Most were Ruby-Throats, which is what we see in our back yard habitat.

We spent a very pleasant half-hour watching them cavorting about and at times there were three or four on a feeder. (We never get that at home, there's always that one who thinks the whole yard is his and sees off all the rest).

As we watched them, I suddenly realized that they weren't ALL Ruby-throats.  I kept seeing flashes of russet as one particularly aggressive little hummer dive-bombed his more sedate companions.  I should qualify that by saying I meant more sedate by comparison.  You couldn't really call any hummingbird *sedate*.

I tried and tried to get a photo of this little whirling dervish, hoping he would settle on a feeder.  But he was more interested in making sure the others kept their distance than actually taking a sip of nectar himself.

This was the best I could do. It's a Rufous hummingbird - the first I have ever seen. You can see his victim in the top right hand corner of this shot, LOL.

Finally, here's a short clip of video that I took -- only about a minute's worth.

We're certainly going to try and make it to the Hummingbird Festival as they are a lot of fun and very informative.

If you are in the area from 9 am to 3 pm, on Saturday September 10th, do try to stop by.  Here's a flyer with more information.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson,  Jayne's Country Garden.

Animal Antics in the Garden

 For my blog post today, I thought I'd share with you the antics my husband and I witnessed as we sat on the patio with our morning coffee.

We've got at least four hummers, gearing up for their migration.  They expend so much energy chasing each other round the columns on the patio and around the garden, it seems like they will be worn out before they even get started across the Gulf.

Usually, I can only get photos of them either on the feeders, or perching in a tree.  I was lucky this morning to be able to capture these photos of a female in flight as she approached the feeder.

The hummers aren't the only birds in evidence today. As I was sitting on the patio, aiming my camera at the hummingbird feeder for the photos above, I kept seeing flashes of color and movement along the back wall of the garden.

This male Northern Cardinal perched and posed momentarily for a photo op, but not for long. As you can see in the photo above (I'm amazed I caught it on film), another male is swooping in to chase the intruder from "his" territory.

At the same time, on top of the wall, what I thought were two adult females, but turned out to be an adult and a juvenile when I looked at the photo on my computer, are happily pecking at bird seed.

The juvenile enjoyed hopping up and down the milkweed stalks.  Do they eat aphids?  I'm not sure, but at least there were no caterpillars in the way.

When we first moved in here and were surrounded by our own personal forest, we seemingly had our own resident squirrels.  Since all the trees died and/or were removed, and since the lots either side have been cleared and built on, we very rarely see squirrels.

I was missing them, but happened to glance out and see one on the fence last week.  This morning, it was back, helping itself to the birdseed and nuts on the fence. 

There such sweet little things, and so entertaining, I welcome them in the garden.  They've lost so much habitat around here, I'll do anything I can to help them survive. If it means the birds have to share their seed and nuts with the squirrels, so be it :-)


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Master of All He Surveys

This mighty little Ruby throated hummingbird has been on duty in the garden this morning, engaging all visitors in an energetic aerial  acrobatics, before returning to his perch in the Crepe Myrtle tree.

This photo was taken from about 30 feet away, through the patio door. Of course, as soon as I tried to get closer, he took off. 

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Like Father, Like Son

I had some days off work this week and was able to spend some time just sitting on the patio and watching the butterflies and birds coming and going in the garden. (OK- I did some gardening too, but I'll blog about that later!)

I've been watching at least three hummingbirds zipping about the garden this week, from the Vitex to the Flame Acanthus to the Crepe Myrtle and  to the feeders.

I assumed I had a male and a couple of females, but it wasn't until I looked at the photos that I realized I was wrong.

Yes, we have at least one female, and we certainly have a male -- as this one spent at least five minutes flashing his beautiful ruby throat for me to photograph today. 

(As always, you can click on the photos to see a larger version.)

But it wasn't until I saw the photo below enlarged on my computer screen that I realized this wasn't the female I thought it was.

See that little red dot on his throat?  I Googled "hummingbird with red dot on throat" and discovered on www.hummingbirds.net that while young males and female both look like adult females, the juvenile males can get a red dot on the gorget in late August/early September.

This is the first time I've ever seen a juvenile hummingbird, or at least the first time I have ever known I was looking at a young one. 

I wonder if I'll find a nest next year?

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.