Mild Winter for the Hummingbirds So Far

Most of January and now half of February has been pretty mild - weatherwise. This may change a little this week as rain and a cool down are supposed to be on the way. But this morning the weather is fine, 77 degrees out by the main feeder area.

One of the elder guys, if not the old guy, is hanging out next to his feeder chasing off anyone that might have thoughts of pilfering from his territory.

Here is a photo of one of the hummers with backlighting and wings a blur.

This is a manzanita in full bloom, as small as the flowers are, the hummers like them for a treat.

The orioles should be a month or so away - they were here March last year.

Thanks for commenting Garrett, hope you saw my response.

In The Throws of Winter

It's the middle of January - 76 degrees outside with  light winds from the northeast and very clear blue skies. I have only seen Anna's hummers today, males and females. Even though it seems like spring (or summer), not much of the local flora is blooming. And half of what is blooming is not helpful to the hummers.

The micro flowers on the miners lettuce are not very attractive to hummers. As well the colorful but diminutive Red Maids is not a favorite.

However, the Aloe and Monkeyflower and Manzanita are blooming and the hummers do like them.

The hummer who took over the new feeder 'tree' has relinquished ownership for now and the others are taking advantage.

An 'Old Guy' (not 'the old guy) hanging out in coyote bush - and a younger male Anna's showing some color.

A view looking up at a hovering hummer.

More from the new tree.

Lots of birds over the winter - probably all are the non-migrating Anna's who make North County San Diego home. Still using about 1.5 to 2 gallons of sugar water per day.

This winter has seen a new pest at the feeders, hoards of small gnats - probably fungus gnats (Greenomyia sp.) as best as I can tell. I think maybe the excess rain during December has caused this population spurt. The hummers probably snack on them outside of the feeders, but they can spoil the feeder if too many climb inside and croak. They are about .1" (2.5mm) long.

Another Year Done

Just a couple days left of 2010, a good year for watching orioles and hummingbirds!
While hummer watching this afternoon, it became clear why the new feeding post (with 2 favored feeder types) is not getting much action. I should have expected, there is a very territorial male Anna's shooing off any mooching interloper getting near.


I saw a very sharp looking male Costa's hummer at one of the feeders, vibrant dark blue-violet neck and long back swooping 'sideburns'. It is supposed to be very rainy tomorrow, I hope to get a photo of him if he is still around after the rain.

Almost Christmas

It is almost Christmas and this year the hummers got an early present in the form of an additional feeder post with 4 spots for feeders. It is about 5 feet from their favorite feeder post but they do not seem too keen on the new one yet. Creatures of habit, I suppose. The bees seem more excited about it, although not for several days since the drizzle moved in. The bees are nowhere to be seen, they will be back with the sun I am sure. Lots of birds still around, about 1 gallon a day of nectar as a reference. The birds also got 2 aloe plant cuttings donated to them a week ago. They are in the ground, time will tell if they root and thrive. They each have a bloom stalk which, so far, have not fallen off. I take that as a positive sign.

Sunny Saturday

I spent half an hour or so out with the hummers this afternoon around 2:00. There was a big crowd hanging out on the 'hummingbird tree' and on the feeding tower. Here is a photo of several hummers and a praying mantis that I almost did not see. I have heard (read) that a mantis can catch a hummer, maybe a much bigger mantis and much smaller hummer.

Here is a better photo of the lizard who has taken over the bird house!

This is about half of the birds in the tree, the rest are lower and are harder to see. That photo is next, most of these photos are clickable for a larger view.

I took a nice 2 minute video of the activity, almost like being there! Well, not quite...

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Beautiful weather and Thanksgiving Day with family! It has been cool over night (frost Thursday morning) and the hummers are a little slow to the 'breakfast table'. But by 7:30 AM they are ready to go! Old Guy update: he may have moved his territory to the side yard. 2 feeders there are draining slowly and I caught a glimpse of a male Anna's who looks close to the profile.

I sat out with the hummers for a while this afternoon and tried to get a few pics of the males showing off there highlights.

Here are a four getting cozy while getting a snack!

I did not know hummers got Tats! the guy on the left has one right on the top of his head.

This guy has a case of pinhead going on. I rarely see them in that condition.

Here is 'The Lookout', he has got the high ground staked out.

It's a western bluebird box, I mean western fence lizard. It seems to be a favorite hangout for this guy. it is the box that had a family of house wrens this spring.

Just the Winter population?

It seems like we may be down to just the 'locals' now, the feeders are only taking around a gallon a day to refill lately. I don't recall seeing nearly as many kinds of hummingbirds this summer and fall as usual and not the quantity in each type, except for Anna'a and Blackchinned. The weather has been excellent for the last week and generally nice all summer and fall, a bit cooler than normal. Did this keep some of the travelers from staying in the area? Maybe they were searching for warmer climes. Maybe their migration route shifted a little this year.

Old Guy update: Have not seen positive sign for weeks now, 'his feeder is seeing plenty of multibird action lately. I am hoping he just decided to share! Other very territorial hummers have been a bit less so lately, maybe just the season.

New phenomenon this year - for the last 2-3 weeks large quantities of gnat-like insects are getting into the feeders. I have not yet done a close exam on these insects in order to identify this latest annoyance. They may be an effect of the early rain and then hot weather. Better than bees, and they may be a protein source for the hummers - if so, fine.