Wrapping up the Hummingbird posts
Thanks dog and cat folks for tuning in to our hummingbird news!
Looking very crowded on Saturday
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. (more…)