Rainy Sunday!

A rare and short summer rain was a nice change of weather around most of San Diego county today. It was an early morning event and seemed to boost the hummingbird activity during the showers. It also lead to a couple of unusual activities by the hummers. One perched on a widow surround that was sheltered by the roof overhang.

I am fairly sure it was  a different hummer flying a serpentine pattern right under the eves, either staying out of the rain or chasing flying bugs that were staying out of the rain.

Most of the birds were just out in the rain swarming around the feeders, some seemed to be getting a bit soggy! Careful examination of the image shows the falling drops.

No gully washer, but a nice shower.

Late addition:
August 6, Saturday afternoon.. A nice morning working at the Park and came across some wildlife of the snakey kind. It is good to keep a lookout!

It's a rattler, so Park security is called for relocation away from the visitors.

Here he is about to go off to the 'BOX' and a short ride to the back country.

Mid Summer Activity

It's almost the end of July, the weather in North San Diego County has been very nice - save for a couple days earlier this month when it was around 90 F. Certainly, compared to much of the rest of the USA, we are sitting pretty. The birds seem to be enjoying the low to mid 80s. Our Desert Willows (Chilopsis linearis) are beginning to bloom in earnest and the hummingbirds are checking the flowers for nectar along with the feeders. Where as most of the trees have a reddish maroon bloom, one of the 2 trees we have has white blooms.

Remember, all photos are clickable to enlarge for viewing!

Hummingbird activity is quite high now, well recovered from the first of the month when we were gone for 4 days and the feeders ran dry. Have seen several female Rufus or Allen's but not males. They must be around somewhere. Blackchinned and of course lots of Anna's.

The Honey Bees are a bit of a problem still, more so for the Orioles since their feeders are harder to 'bee proof' and still give access to the Orioles. A work in progress... Speaking of Orioles, at least a couple families are visiting the backyard, based on adult males and juvenile males. Click click - as they launch from the spring loaded Perky feeders, and the 'R2D2 beeps, clicks, and whirs' when several meet up at or near a feeder to play continues to crack me up!

A little off topic, but it seems to be the time for baby lizards to hatch. Starting to see the tiniest little guys running around, maybe an inch long - tail included. Pictures later if one will stay still long enough.

Update: New photos July 28th
Here are a couple baby Side Splotch lizards making their home around the back patio.

Grrr, I'm big and fierce! This little guy is up and posing.

Ouch, my tail. This guy is missing a bit of his tail. They both are about an inch long.

 The birds and the Bees. Dinner time in the neighborhood, a few females of undetermined spicies and a Blackchinned (and honey bees)

 A couple waiting turns in a holding pattern

 Our little bit of 'haven'!

Thirsty female hooded oriole, can't tell if adult or youngster, though not so svelte as the fledglings might be, so my guess is adult.

Back from a short vacation

Just back from a great trip to Cabo San Lucas, seems like we brought some hot muggy weather with us. Actually, it got here while we were gone - not our fault!

I tried to load up the feeders to last but most emptied out and seems like around half the birds (hummers and orioles) left for greener (nectary?) pastures. Even the honey bees are fewer. Since Tuesday, I have seen a slight up tick in population.

Still seeing a good variety of hummingbirds, possibly a Rufus, though I did not get a good look at the backside to be sure. And a couple families of orioles are still coming 'round. Speaking of visitors - just before we left (while the weather was still cool) I got a couple pics of a red shoulder hawk that has been (still is) hanging out.

I missed, by a couple of seconds, getting a fun photo of a hummer circling the hawk while he was he was sitting on the fence.

Must bee Summer Cuz lots of Bees!

June is wrapping up and although I have not gone back through the blog to see what time of year the honey bees show up and commit suicide in the oriole feeders, it is probably about the same time as years before. I dread having to bee-proof the oriole feeders because most of them become oriole unfriendly. I will try, again this year,to find a way to exclude bees while feeding orioles.

A couple of photos to illustrate the problem..

Death by sugar water!

 

Goin' in. I had tried drilling out the openings to convert feeder to oriole friendly - too big!

Bee guards partially working, bees are not inside feeder - but bees are keeping away birds. 

On a more pleasant note, oriole population seems as high as last year. This includes what are likely several batches of youngsters, fledgling male for sure - so most likely females as well.

Also, continuing to see at least one pair of Allen's hummingbirds. Have not id'd a Rufus male yet. Of course, lots of Anna's, and a good quantity of Blackchinned and Costa's.

June Already!

It's June already, the birds all seem to be enjoying the cooler than typical weather this year. Have seen several juvenile male Hooded Orioles lately, so I imagine there are about as many young females. The adults must be doing a good job on the nest! Sad day a couple weeks ago - one of the very colorful adult males succumbed to something, seemingly not cat related. May have been a high speed crash, they often chase each other around the backyard at high speed just to land and begin chattering like crazy.

Just a week ago while filling the many feeders, I spotted a female hummer with lots of brown plumage. Since it was a female, I am not sure if it was a Rufus or Allens. I have not made a sighting of a male of either type yet. I don't usually expect to see either near the middle of the season since they are migratory and we somewhat in the middle of the route. I hope to see some this fall, did not see any this spring.

Other birds of note: LBB (wren from last year) is trying to lure a female back to the birdhouse but I don't think he has had much luck yet. He pops in and out of the house tidying up but no family yet.

This year, for some reason, the house finches are taking to the oriole feeders, but at least not in an overbearing fashion.

1st Offspring of the Season

Sunday was a good day for watching the backyard birds. Oriole activity is way up (easy if it goes from none to 5 or 6). I am a bit shocked to see the 1st juvenile of the season since I just saw the 1st female a couple weeks ago. But those birds may have been hanging out somewhere else and stopped by here only now. The lower shoot shows the males bib a little more clearly. The youngsters are much more skiddish than the adults, hard to get good photos yet. Reminder - click on images for larger view!

Here is a photo of Mr. and Mrs. based on a short observation. They are definitely adult female and male, at any rate. There are a couple of on lookers as well.

This shows the coloration difference between male and female a little better.

A couple of adult males playing in the 'jungle gym' or briar patch depending on your age maybe.

2 males, one at feeder - the other in plum tree, another favorite hangout - especially when the plums ripen, oh well.

Lots of activity during the day and odds of catching orioles on the 'live' cam are getting better.

Here is a photo of a couple orioles perched - with a bonus 3 hummers caught in flight. They are a bit hard to see (click to get the larger view). The webcam can just be seen on the right side of the photo.

Bonus, if off topic, photo from front porch of tent that we stayed in overnight at San Diego Zoo's Safari Park during Roar and Snore event. Excellent time was had by all. A couple clicks to enlarge reveals rhinos resting across the way and giraffes strolling.

First Female Oriole This Spring

It's a gray start to the first Sunday of April and the first sighting of a female Hooded Oriole has  been made - no photo yet. Yesterday I saw 4 males for the first time, slowly, the birds are returning. I suppose 'returning' is the proper term, could be first timers - I wouldn't know. Most are returning, I would guess.
A couple photos of males playing/hanging out in the dead ceanothus.

Zoomed out a bit for this one, the guy on the left is hanging down.

May be seeing the first batch of youngsters in a month or so.