The TJTwitter

[Dee-O-Gee]

Humph. I guess I need to get outside more often with a camera neck strap.

I was so excited late this afternoon seeing the hummer fluttering before the feeder then perching on it. Never saw that before other than in your pictures Hazel. I was in such an awe to finally see one in my own backyard and wasn't ready to take my eyes off him to grab the camera. Hopefully he'll come back.

[hazelrunpack]

Aren't they just a wonder to see in action? So small, but so feisty!!! If you have one, there are probably more around, so keep your eyes peeled!

[Dee-O-Gee]

I sure hope so. If that's the case, then I'll have to get out our old Pentax 35 mm SLR with the wide zoom lens that has a shoulder strap!

[hazelrunpack]

Be prepared for neck kinks.

[Love4himies]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

Oh, oh, oh!! And I went over to check on the bluebirds this evening. I scratched on the box to let her know I was there, but no one came out. I heard a noise above me and there was Daddy bringing a juicy caterpillar home to Mom and the kids! So I'm thinking they've finally hatched, or are about to! I'll open the box and check in a few days!

Auntie Hazel.

Nice pics of the beautiful Indigo Bunting , I have only seen one on my lot in the last 5 years

[hazelrunpack]

We have a fair number of buntings but they're sneaky little guys! That's the only one I've seen--all the pics I get are of the same male and I've only spotted a female once. But I can hear at least three other males in the vicinity singing from their territories...

"Auntie" hazel... I'm just so un-Auntie...

[Love4himies]

Got home and the chipping sparrows have left the nest. I can hear them chipping away in the woods.

[Dee-O-Gee]

Originally Posted by klmccallum

I sure hope so. If that's the case, then I'll have to get out our old Pentax 35 mm SLR with the wide zoom lens that has a shoulder strap!

I stand corrected. It's a Minolta not a Pentax. Dusted off the cobwebs from the bag and fired it up last night.

Came home from work today and to my surprise the hummer came back! This time, I had the trusty Minolta in hand with the wide angle lens and voila!!!! I got 2 pictures before he flew away.

Now I just have to waste the rest of the film to take it in to develop.

[hazelrunpack]

Great news about the chippers, L4H!

And yay! on getting pics, klm! I still have some 35mm film that I have to use up before it expires...but I'm having so much fun with the new camera that I'm afraid my old SLR friend is languishing away in the cabinet.

Want some film?

[Love4himies]

Now the baby robins have left the nest , It's so quiet around the house now

The fourth egg that was laid late must have turned out OK. No dropped eggs and nothing left behind in the nest

[Dee-O-Gee]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

Want some film?

I still have about 3 rolls in the bag but I'm not sure of the expiry dates on them.

Hummers have been back now for the past 2 days. My feeder is about 10 feet away from my screened porch and everytime I see them, I creep out to the porch to take a picture but then it flies away!

I'm gonna stop creeping for a few days and just enjoy their beauty. Hopefully by not sneaking up on them, they will trust the surroundings and the feeder then maybe I'll be able to snap a couple nice pictures. I'm hoping the ones I took the other day with the old SLR will turn out but I still need to finish the roll.

[hazelrunpack]

Originally Posted by Love4himies

The fourth egg that was laid late must have turned out OK. No dropped eggs and nothing left behind in the nest

Congrats on the successful fledge!!! All 4! Are they feeding the babies in your yard or have them moved off somewhere? Sometimes they stick around the nest for a few days, which makes up for some of the quietude

Originally Posted by klmccallum

Hummers have been back now for the past 2 days. My feeder is about 10 feet away from my screened porch and everytime I see them, I creep out to the porch to take a picture but then it flies away!

I'm gonna stop creeping for a few days and just enjoy their beauty. Hopefully by not sneaking up on them, they will trust the surroundings and the feeder then maybe I'll be able to snap a couple nice pictures.

Take a lawn chair and park your butt quietly a few feet away from the feeder. If you move v e r y s l o w l y you won't disturb them and if they see you there now and again and you never scare them, maybe they'll get used to you! If I stand very still in the hummingbird garden they'll swarm the feeders at dusk, even though I'm just a few inches from the feeders.

[hazelrunpack]

Mom and Dad Bluebird have at least 4 babies in the nest Daddy is definitely jittery when hazel checks up on them...



I've been trying to give them some privacy. They've had a rough season, what with the first brood failing... So I haven't taken any pics of the babies. I'll try to catch them around fledging time.

[hazelrunpack]

A couple with their tongues out

[hazelrunpack]

One fem sitting at the feeder...


...as others hover over the ports while drinking.

[hazelrunpack]

And a handsome male half hidden behind his dinner table :

[Love4himies]

Those pics are astounding, Hazel

I haven't seen hide nor hair of the Robins. I don't think they liked the lurking kitties

[hazelrunpack]

Anything nesting in trees inside our fence will also take the fledglings outside once they're out and about. They don't care for milling doggies, either, evidently...which is actually a great relief to hazel.

I saw some chipping sparrows feeding juveniles over at the in-laws' today and I checked the bluebird babies--they're getting really big, but still are hunkering down into the nest. Mom and Dad weren't nearly as nervous when I went by today, so they must have decided I'm okay...

[Dee-O-Gee]

I spy with my little eye, I see something that is....
YELLOW'ISH/ORANGE!





This is from my crappy digital camera that I've had sitting in my kitchen windowsill but I finally caught the little guy perched on the jelly holder.

Hopefully he'll bring along some friends soon!

[hazelrunpack]

Well holy catz, klm!!! That deserves a little celebration!!

Do you have a lot of orioles around? How long did it take them to find the jelly?

[Dee-O-Gee]

I'm tellin ya hazel...I'm squealing with excitement!

So far I've only seen 2 come by. We've had a lot of rain lately so I've been taking a syringe and suctioning out the rain water, cleaning the cup and replenishing it with fresh jelly for the past week.

They've perched themselves on the hummingbird feeder but today was the first time I saw this little guy sampling the fresh jelly.

Hoping he'll tell his friends soon!

[hazelrunpack]

Maybe he'll tell the catbirds, too!

I need to freshen my jelly up. hazel has been lax in keeping it fresh and tasty...

[Dee-O-Gee]

We had more rain late this evening so I'll make it a mission to syringe out the rain water and replenish the jelly jar.

Oh BTW...I also saw a wee baby hummer the other evening. Hubby & I were sitting out in the back porch when the little one came by. He appeared to be somewhat smaller then the ones that we've been seeing.

[hazelrunpack]

Are you sure it was a hummer and not a hummingbird moth? They look very similar but they're not birds, they're a species of clear-wing sphinx moth. Was it very close to dusk or just after dawn when you saw the little one?

[Dee-O-Gee]

I just googled a hummingbird moth and the little one we saw the other night did not look anything like the moth. He was just a wee bit smaller then what we've seen around the past few weeks.

[hazelrunpack]

It might just have been a smaller-than-usual hummer, then.

But we've seen hummingbird moths that really had us going! They move just like hummingbirds and the resemblance is just remarkable! We used to get more of them in EC than we did actual hummers. They got us so excited, thinking we had hummingbirds.

But they're really cool insects! I miss having them around--here we only get the smaller ones that are more the size of bumblebees.

[Chris21711]

Real nice pics...I haven't seen an Oriole yet this year ...not seeing too much of anything really, I can hear lots but no seeum

Hummingbird moths are cute little critters, I see a lot when the Purple Phlox is in bloom....the smell of the Phlox I have attracts Monarchs and Hummingbirds also.

[hazelrunpack]

We have to take in the feeders till winter. The bear just raided our feeding station. It's acclimated, too--I was on the deck yelling, shining the light on it and it just looked back at me. I had to charge it (safely on the deck, of course ) before it left. And then, while I was outside the fence, bringing in our trashed feeders and saving the suet, we realized it was still nearby.

My poor birdies... No more free lunches till it gets cold...

But at least I can keep the hummers fed--the hummingbird garden is inside the fence.

[hazelrunpack]

From this morning *sigh*

[hazelrunpack]

My birdies are already looking around forlornly for their seed and suet