End of Another Year

It's mid December, another year gone. This fall has been cooler than most, about average for rain. The Hummingbird population feeding in the backyard has taken a drop over the last month. Feeder drainage has almost cut if half, from 2-3 gallons per day to around 1 gallon per day. I thought all the migrating birds had left by October, but maybe there were more waiting until late November to move on. That or a few regulars have become very territorial and are chasing a lot of birds away. I do not see a lot of evidence for the latter.

There are still a fair number of bees around, especially when the weather warms up and there is an abundance of sun.

On other small bird news, for the last few months, a House Wren has taken up overnight quarters on top of one of the 'birdcams' in the back corner of the backyard. His own personal heater on the chilly fall/winter nights. This may or may not be the same Guy who helped raise a family in the Western Bluebird box in the same corner as the hummingbird 'feeder trees'. I decided to clean out the mass of twigs and debris inside of the box about a month ago in prep for the new season. I have not looked to see if there is new activity in there, but for sure, the same Western Fence Lizard that has been sunning on the box for a year or so is still there on warm sunny days. Wrens and lizards in the Bluebird box, but no Bluebirds!

Fall 2011

It is the end of October, temps are falling and the migrating hummingbirds are gone to the south. There are still plenty of Anna's and some Blackchins buzzing around. I have decided to more closely track the quantity of sugar used over the next year. This should give a better picture of population changes during the year.

The next two weeks will be an opportunity for our neighbors to enjoy the birds as much as we do as we head out  for a trip to Italia and they take over feeder duties.

Labor Day With the Hummers

Just back from a weekend in Napa, Haley next door did a nice job keeping feeders up - lots of hummers  buzzing around to greet the holiday morning. A bit unusual, weatherwise, it is more common to have an east wind and be hot than to get rain on Labor Day. But that is just what we got, not a lot, but 3 separate waves have gone by.

Here are a few photos of the hummers having labor Day breakfast in the rain! (clicking a photo brings up a large view)

 Not raining hard at this point, more like drizzle.

 

 Hard to see the 2 here. Deer grass, evening primrose, aloe, monkeyflower, desert willow in scene.

 Favorite feeder type on left, oriole feeder on right. Have only seen one hooded oriole today, most are back wintering in Az or Mex.

 Another oriole feeder, 2 hummers are hard to see. These feeders are a last resort usually, bees get in the way.

 A little more action here.

How many feeders do you count?  There are 8 more not shown that are up, 3 or 4 broken ones awaiting the recycle can.

First of September

Summer has arrived over the last couple weeks, 80s to mid 90s are the norm now and by the middle of next week some reports expect high 90s.

The hummers are in high form, 2-3 gallons a day and much activity. Seeing more Allen's, not sure if any Rufus are in town. Morning and evening are quite a show!

I looked back to last year's blogs and see that the Hooded Orioles were still here (though in low numbers) on Sept 11 - but by the 16th they were gone for the year. I have seen 3 females this morning, we shall see how long before they leave. As last year, the females are the last to go.

We will be gone for 4 days and are trying out having someone keep up the feeders while we are away. Hopefully this works out, otherwise the feeders will all be empty tomorrow and maybe all the bids will move on! Maybe I need to work on 1 or 2 gallon feeders instead of using these tiny 16-48 ounce feeders!

Bird Days of Summer

Our unusual (unusually nice) summer is continuing with many days being cooler than normal, which is nice for August! A Catalina Eddie is spinning off the coast of Southern California, so our mornings are more like June than august - fog and even some drizzle giving way to low to mid 80s in the afternoon.
The hummingbirds and orioles seem to be enjoying the cooler weather as well. The activity is high and the feeders are draining fast, so much so that I am re-checking the rate. I started Tuesday AM with 9 gallons worth of sugar pre-measured and will see what is left by Thursday PM (3 days). As of Thursday AM, less than 2 gallons jugs are left - so between 2 and 3 gallons a day. That is close to all time high.
Update Thursday night:   All 9 gallons are gone in 3 days - yikes! Off to get sugar tomorrow.

The bees are somewhat in check, most of the feeders are open to the birds without clouds of bees competing for drink.

There are still several family groups of orioles hanging around, unfortunately - by September they will probably be gone for the year, back to Arizona and Mexico.

  I have seen several videos of fellow hummingbird enthusiasts getting up close and personal with the little birds (nectar in the hand and birds drinking from and landing on the hand). I have never had the time to attempt this yet. However, a couple days ago, I noticed a hummer at a feeder that was hovering and frantically  trying to get a foot hold on the side of the feeder (no perch near).
   This is the same feeder that was a favorite for a couple years of 'the old guy' hummer, male Anna's. He was quite the character and his beak was getting a bit gnarly. I did not think more of that until I noticed the beak of this other bird who I will call 'the old gal' since she is showing signs of age as I have determined - rounded physique, reduced speed, somewhat deformed beak. Her's does not close well at the end and I imagine she has a harder time with the smaller openings of the standard hummingbird feeders.
   The feeder she was struggling with has much larger openings that her beak fits in just fine. I now imagine that 'the old guy' was so protective of this feeder because it was one he could easily feed from and if he guarded it well, it would always have fluid (not emptied by hoards of other hummers). I am not sure I have seen him this summer, but I think  I spotted him on the side yard guarding a different feeder, also with larger holes. Back to where I was leading,  'the old gal' was seemingly struggling and perhaps tired but hungry, so I decided to see if I could lend a 'perching hand'. I slowly reached out toward her with a finger out, when my finger was just under her, she lit on my finger and continued to feed for 10-20 seconds. I could barely feel her weight, but it was very cool (exciting)! That feeder has movable perches and they had rotated to an in between position so they were too far away to use while feeding. I will make sure that does not happen again, poor 'old gal'!

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.