Photo Property of Green Dog Pet Supply

There’s a new nest, high up in the planter closest to our door. This one is cute, with 2 branches sewn together in an X. Lots of spider webs on this one – the last one was lots of lichen. Eggs laid Wed and Thurs (April 21 and 22 – Happy Earth Day!!!)

Photo Property of Green Dog Pet Supply

Tiny babies. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

The babies hatched March 5th and 6th, respectively, and are about the size of honey bees. The top one is the older one – slightly bigger already and has fuzz, the newer one below is more naked looking. You can see the remnants of eggshells under them (it’s funny – last year she chucked them out of the nest right away – see the photo of the size of the eggshells here).
In this photo you can really see the spider webs she used to strap the nest onto the bamboo.

One other little observation that seems interesting to me, (and maybe not to anyone else, as it’s a certified bird nerd moment here) is how different her posture is in the nest after they hatched. While she was incubating, she was just sitting, presumably just thinking little birdy thoughts, passing time. As soon as one hatched she became so alert, her eyes constantly searching the bamboo for insects. Her bill points up, her neck is all stretched up, her head moving around a lot. It’s a tough job to feed these little guys – they grow so amazingly quickly and eat so often. Best to be on the alert for an easy meal. I just knew from looking at her that the first chick had hatched – she looked so different.

I promise to try and get a better photo of her feeding them – they’re always hard as the light changes so much out there and she’s right over them, but here’s the first try:

Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

Filling up the nest. Photo property of Green Dog Pet Supply

Update:
March 13th, about 8 days old. Really starting to fill up the nest. The one on the left is head towards us, and the other one, a little obscured by leaves has his head pointed the other way. They’re fluffier now and mom is just about done sitting on them – she just constantly is gathering food and feeding them.

March 19th – 14 days old – hungry babies being fed:

Mom feeding. Photo Property of Green Dog Pet Supply.

 
The nest is really getting crowded:

Photo Property of Green Dog Pet Supply

 
They’re so big that you can see their little bills sticking out over the edge from below:

March 27th: We really don’t fit in this nest anymore:

Photo Property of Green Dog Pet Supply

They’re really ready to go any minute. They’re very restless, squirming and shoving, stretching up, really interested in looking all around, and one of them was doing some wing exercising – standing up on the edge of the nest and flapping (which looks like a blur already). I thought for sure that one would hop out by the end of the day, but at 6 p.m. they were both still in there. Next day for sure for one of them, and probably the day after for the second. They’ll stick around for a week or two in the bamboo getting fed by momma. One frustration – last year I learned that mom builds her next nest during the last few weeks of the babies growing in their nest, and lays her first egg in the new nest the day after they both fledge. However, I can’t seem to find where that next nest is, and I’m worried it’s not in the courtyard at all. I’ll keep looking.

They hopped out of their nest and into the bamboo on the 29th and 30th of March, and she continued to feed them until about the 7th or 8th of April. Still don’t know where her current nest is, but a lucky customer of ours told us there’s a female with eggs right outside their window, in their bamboo! They only live a street or two away, so maybe it’s her. Here’s a photo of one of the babies, a few days after it left the nest.

Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

Forgive the lack of posts recently – we’ve been in almost over our heads recently with many back of the house issues to contend with and gladly, we’re very busy in the front of the house, thanks to all of you! But I wanted to let you know that spring has sprung for us in our little courtyard, as we officially have our first hummingbird nest of the season. There’s a tag for hummingbird posts in the category list for this blog – we got some good photos last year of the two nests that successfully fledged 2 chicks each, so you should check out some of those posts for photos if you’d like to see them. If we’re lucky this year, we might see three nests of babies, as Anna’s Hummingbirds usually can pull off 3 nests per season.

Here’s something unusual though – this is the second nest in the courtyard this year – the first one was either a false start, or this is a new female building this current nest. <! — more — >Here’s what happened: In early January we started to see an Anna’s female flying in and out of the bamboo numerous times per day. She’d forage for insects as she went, but mostly she seemed to be auditioning different spots in the bamboo for a nest. She’d fly over here and sit for a minute, then fly over there and sit there for a minute, etc. After about 2 weeks of this, she picked what I thought was a poor location for a nest (but who am I to judge what makes a good one?) and started building. It was pretty low down and way out on the edge of the foliage, making her more vulnerable to human activity, and on a dead stalk that seemed weak to me. She wasn’t fazed at all with us watching her, so I’m inclined to think it was the same female from last year. Soon enough (about a week) she had enough of a nest built to lay her eggs, and she laid one on Jan 20th and one on the 21st. However, after about a week, she disappeared.
Several days later, we were all pretty depressed, as we knew it would be very unusual for a female to abandon newly laid eggs. We’ve lost other hummers in the neighborhood to windows and one to a neighbor’s cat, so we felt sure that she had fallen victim to something like this.
But lo and behold – I spotted a female cruising the bamboo for a few days, even looking fairly closely at the abandoned nest but not interacting with it, and she started a new nest in the bamboo planter that’s closest to the stairs! It’s a pretty one, with lots of moss and lichen:

As of now it looks ready for the first egg (it’s started to be lined with feathers as of Saturday and Sunday – she even scored a big grey feather that had been shed by another bird) We’re off today (monday) but I expect to see a Jelly Belly sized egg in there when I arrive Tues. Here’s the feather-lined nest (we can see it from the balcony above):

New fethered nest. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

Next time you’re in, ask Christine or Mike to show you where it is. Luckily it’s in a good place for photos this time around!
Funny thing is, I’m not quite sure if this is the same female. I’ve seen the nest growing, but rarely have caught a glimpse of the hummer. I figure that if she’s upset at me looking at her when she’s incubating, it’s a new female. If she gives an “Oh, it’s you” look  then I think it’s our resident female.

Update: Yep, on Tues there was first egg in there, and the next day, two. We should be looking for a hatch on or around March 5th

Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

2 eggs. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

Thanks dog and cat folks for tuning in to our hummingbird news!

Looking very crowded on Saturday. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

We wrapped up the season with a little drama. On August 1st we had our annual Fremont Fest celebration, which means the courtyard was crowded and noisy – live music seemed to make the babies even more restless than they had already been – one baby was already stretching up a bit, and looking antsy the day before. While the music was pumping, the chicks were really shifting around – I was nervous that they were going to make a break for it and wind up on the pavement. Well, the next day we came in to work and heard the distinct cheeping vocalization that the chicks only seem to make once they have left the nest. That little guy was really cheeping. I finally got a moment to break away and look for the fledgling, but it took me quite a bit of time to find it. One reason is that those contact calls are designed to be hard for predators to locate the source – everywhere you stand it seems to be coming from a different direction. The other reason was that the baby was on the edge of the planter- a foot above the ground, right over a big drain. Mom flew in and was obviously a bit distressed about the situation herself, but I didn’t want to interfere. We put our sandwich board in a spot that would block dogs/kids from coming too close, but then I started thinking about that drain… Pretty soon mom left to gather food, and I took the opportunity to scoop up the baby and run it upstairs, where I deposited it into a balcony planter that’s only a few feet from the nest. I’ve handled quite a few birds, and even a few hummingbirds in the past (I was a zookeeper and I’ve also been lucky enough to be part of a number of bird banding projects) but it was funny to hold that baby, even for a moment – there was hardly anything to him. Light as air. It stayed in the planter for 20 or so minutes before launching itself towards the bamboo where it pretty much crash landed into the branches and luckily stayed there. Then, an hour later, there it was again but this time right on the ground. So, I scooped it up again (when mom wasn’t looking) and ran it back upstairs. This time he flew into the bamboo and stayed there. Whew!

Then the 2nd baby really wanted out of there too.

Standing on edge of nest. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

soon to go. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

Looks bigger than mom due to still having some fluff. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

Maybe mom has a little something for me to eat before I go. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

By Monday they were both out and doing just fine.

Portland’s having a really hot week – it’s 106 degrees right now, and it might even get a bit higher. Mom and both the babies are staying very still, open-mouthed breathing. I’d do anything to get them some water, but it doesn’t seem very possible. I’ll have to trust that they’ll do as well as the last batch did in that terrible lashing storm.

for anyone keeping track, they are 17 and 16 days old, respectively. They will fledge around day 23

hot babies have to open mouth breathe. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

tiny eggshells. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

If you haven’t been following along, we’ve had an eventful spring filled with lovely hummingbird babies hatching right outside our door. This is the second nest this season that she’s had in our courtyard. How lucky we are! (See older posts for the first nest photos and stories.)

Mon July 13th – 1st egg hatched
Tues July 14th – 2nd egg hatched – tiny eggshells discarded from the nest
Now that the last babies have officially flown the coop, she can dedicate herself to feeding these babies (incredible weight gain noticeable each day – they grow so very quickly!)

Wed July 15 – two babies at a hard angle to see. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

New Feathers. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

mom feeds baby#1. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

mom feeds baby#2. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

Yesterday was a busy one for mom, as there was a squirrel in the bamboo, and the fool thing seemed stuck up there. It clearly was physically OK and could have left if it wanted to, but it seemed paralyzed with some sort of deep-seated anxiety. He stayed stock still wherever he was, but mom hummer was flipping out. She had one baby in the nest and one was in the branches above, and she was quite upset that there was anyone else in her bamboo nursery. Poor thing – she expended so much energy yelling at that squirrel and swooping angrily around trying to chase it off, but he was like a statue. We shook some branches several times during the day and each time the squirrel would jump to another branch and stick there for a while. As if she didn’t have enough to do with feeding herself, feeding the babies, and building her new nest – now she’s got to fuss with that squirrel. By late afternoon she had started to relax and seemed to give up eventually, but I think the squirrel waited until the cover of darkness to leave the bamboo.

You can see mom hummer in pissed off flight above squirrel. Photo property Green Dog Pet Supply

Later after she gave up she didn’t even mind when the fledgling and the squirrel were hanging out right near each other

Squirrel above, fledgling below. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

Anyway, second baby fledged in the early evening – yay!

Empty nest. Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

I came in this morning and saw mom on the new nest. Sure enough, there’s an egg in there already! Wow – she wasted no time at all.  Now, she’s sitting on the egg, leaving to feed herself and collect food for the kids, and feeding them too. They’re so sweet, just hanging out on the upper branches, occasionally flying a foot or two up in the air and back down again.

Fledgling waiting for food. Photo Property of Green Dog Pet Supply

Two days ago they looked really big. Their bills were getting longer, their feathers looked just about ready, and they were very visible from down below.

day 21 from below. Photo property of Green Dog Pet Supply

From above it’s looking pretty tight in that nest

Not much room at all. Photo property Green Dog Pet Supply

Yesterday they seemed more upwardly oriented.

Day 22: What’s up there? Photo property Green Dog Pet Supply

One of them in particular started to seem really restless

I got one of the best photos yet of mom and babies together. I hope you can make out that their bills are open, asking for food

Photo Property Green Dog Pet Supply

Last night before we left the more restless one was really fidgety, but this morning it was still in the nest. As the day went on, that one really started to make some moves towards flight – stepping out of the nest, really fidgeting, and looking up up up. Finally it started to practice beating its wings – you of course can’t see the wings in these next shots as they beat so fast!

Practicing! Photo property Green Dog Pet Supply

Last night, I was showing a customer the nest and we were laughing because the active nestling had climbed up and was standing on its sibling’s head to practice flapping. The interesting thing was that we heard cheeping that sounded like mom coming back in, but she wasn’t around – I realized that both little babies, especially the active one was making the noise. I offered to show her the new nest, and while we were looking at it, wouldn’t you know it – I heard a loud “cheep!” from the nest – we went back over and there was only one baby in the nest! I’m certain that was an excited lift-off noise. It had made it about 10 feet up, and was perched on the branch. We waited to see mom come back. She came back in and we saw the fledgling flapping in a begging gesture. Mom landed at the nest and the fledgling above made a very high-pitched noise that sounded like a hearing test beep. She looked all around, fed the baby in the nest and flew off again – a little disappointing for the humans below – we of course wanted her to visit the fledgling right away and congratulate it. 🙂

That fledgling made a few more little flights, buzzing and sort of bumbling through the bamboo.

Fledgling! Photo property of Green Dog Pet Supply

Meanwhile in the nest, the other fledgling seemed very restless and started right away to do a lot of preening of its feathers and stretching up towards the sky. You’d think he’d enjoy the newfound roominess, but of course it seemed more urgent at that moment to get on out of there like it’s sibling.

one is the loneliest number… Photo Property of Green Dog Pet Supply