Hubert is actually Heneryetta
We have a humming bird feeder we keep supplied with the most addictive sugar mixture available. It is outside the kitchen window and we can observe the activity the feeder generates unnoticed by the winged participants. Recently there was a humming bird who fiercely defended the feeder territory like a gladiator.
We named the bird "Hubert" and watched him guard the food supply for months, picking a fight with any other humming bird that attempted to feed.
Last week Hubert wasn't on duty. We wondered where he had gone until we discovered this nest in the tree. It is only about an inch high and almost invisible. I snapped a picture with a maximum close up setting. Turns out that Hubert, the gladiator, is actually Heneryetta, the mother.
Last week Hubert wasn't on duty. We wondered where he had gone until we discovered this nest in the tree. It is only about an inch high and almost invisible. I snapped a picture with a maximum close up setting. Turns out that Hubert, the gladiator, is actually Heneryetta, the mother.
She sits in the nest all day long, rarely even turning the other direction. This morning when I went out for the paper she was gone for a moment. I got a ladder and very carefully peeked inside from a safe distance. Nestled in the middle is a perfectly formed miniature egg the size of a ticktac. I am almost embarrassed to say how exciting that was to see.
Okay so I am usually on the road making a living. Some might say that I have an exciting life performing on great stages and staying in five star hotels around the world. It doesn't leave much time to watch the parental life of a humming bird. But, I have to tell you, I haven't seen a show on the road that is as fulfilling and awe inspiring as the one that is going, on almost unnoticed, outside in my tree. I wonder what else I am missing by not looking around more on a daily basis.
As you were,
Jay
2 comments:
Hi, Jay:
Thought I would share our experiences...we, too, had a Mama Hummingbird make a nest in a little tree right outside our patio early in the spring. Our little mother gave birth to two birds. It was a wonder to watch the progress of the two eggs as they hatched and the babies were born. The mother tended the babies carefully. A few weeks after birth the babies flew away under the watchful eye of their mom. Internet research mentioned that nests are not used again - but after a couple of days another mother took her place on the nest and gave birth to two more babies! The whole thing took place again - and the two babies once again flew away from the nest. That must be it for this nest - because it has been a few weeks and no other family has moved in! It was all so incredible and fun to watch! Enjoy your hummingbird experience!
You are just as big of a kid as ever...wide eyed about life and all it's goings on...we love you for being that....we've been focused on the bluebird family in the box out front....
Carr on,
B&P
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