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| Whistling in an apple tree |
In the middle of April we had a
horribly windy day. Wind warnings were out for the entire area with gusts of 50
miles per hour expected. The highest official wind gusts were in the upper 40s,
still a whole lot more wind than I, or the birds like. The next day I saw
several dead birds, one was a Mourning dove, another small bird of some type,
about finch size, under the high tension power lines. I can only assume the wind
drove them into the lines.
I was
concerned that the migrating hummingbirds would be in serious trouble, but I
didn’t see any exhausted birds at my feeder that evening, I can only hope they
stayed in a safe location that day. One hummingbird who did show up surprised
me. It was C Hummer! I was outside cleaning up, the usual occupation of a dog
owner, when I was coming back to the patio I noticed a hummingbird sitting on
the back of a patio chair. There is only one hummer that does that, and he is C
Hummer. I leaned down to get a better look and he flew up and hovered just
inches from my face. Then he went back to his chair. He stayed there most of
the day. My patio was well protected from the wind. He knew it would be, so
came back for shelter. The next day the wind was much less and he was gone
again.
I do
have a Costa’s male around my house, but I can’t tell if it is C Hummer or
another. Since he is not keeping the feeders well defended and he isn’t coming
up to see me, I can only assume it isn’t.
I did have
a red-letter day in April. I saw my first adult male Rufus Hummingbird! I was
on the phone watching the south side feeder when I saw the Anna’s male
interacting with another adult male. That male was sitting on a dead branch
left over from trimming the Dallas Lantana. It is caught up in a tendril of the
Cat’s Claw vine, so I leave it there. The birds love it because it overlooks
that feeder.
Back to
the hummingbirds, when the Anna’s male left, the other male flew over to the
feeder. I could see its rufus-colored sides and knew I was looking at a Rufus
Hummingbird. Then he moved and the sun glinted off his red gorget. I grabbed my
camera, but he was sitting behind the feeder. All I could see was his tail.
When he flew out he skimmed over the wall and away he went. He probably had
only made a pit stop at my feeder, since it was early afternoon and was on his
way to his destination. The closest the Rufus hummers nest is in the mountains
of northern Idaho. While some go all the way to Alaska, I assume those take the
coast route rather than the inland one.
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| Notice the tail is longer than the wing tips |
The
next interaction I had in April also involved an adult Anna’s male. When I
drove into my garage one day, I saw two hummingbirds flying around the red yucca
(not really a yucca, but Hesperaloe) next to the drive way. By the time I got
out of the car, they were both sitting in the bush, just inches away from each
other. I dashed into the house for my camera, but when I got back, one had
flown away. The other stayed around and let me take numerous pictures of him.
The
first hummingbird pictures taken in the merry-month of May were of a Costa’s
Hummingbird. I heard him whistling out in front. I grabbed the camera and went
looking. His whistle enabled me to find him. He was sitting on the top of my
neighbor’s apple tree. I only knew where to look because in winter, when the
tree is bare of leaves, this is a favorite place for hummingbirds to sit. And
they are much easier to spot then without a covering of leaves.
As the
year moves closer to summer I will see more hummers, but they will be mostly
immatures, but they will keep my hummingbird feeders busy here in Las Vegas NV.
