Living in a dry area, the tree leaves get covered with a layer of brownish dust that I periodically like to wash off - makes the trees look much better. So this morning I was out watering the trees and spraying off the dusty leaves when all of a sudden I noticed a pair of hummingbirds were frolicking in the spray...they would dart into the water, then dart over to a dry branch and shake the water drops off, then fly back into the spray...this lasted for at least 10 minutes..I was 'buzzed' a couple of times - hummingbirds are really loud when they get close! They also were making the cutest little chirps. These two were brownish with a small ruby spot on the throat. From what I can tell from pictures, they most closely matched the Plain-Capped Starthroat Hummingbird pictures - but that species is not known to come this far west - so they were probably some other species. Alas, a larger bird decided that those trees are HIS and ran them off - but what a treat while it lasted!
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Bathtime, Hummingbird Style
Living in a dry area, the tree leaves get covered with a layer of brownish dust that I periodically like to wash off - makes the trees look much better. So this morning I was out watering the trees and spraying off the dusty leaves when all of a sudden I noticed a pair of hummingbirds were frolicking in the spray...they would dart into the water, then dart over to a dry branch and shake the water drops off, then fly back into the spray...this lasted for at least 10 minutes..I was 'buzzed' a couple of times - hummingbirds are really loud when they get close! They also were making the cutest little chirps. These two were brownish with a small ruby spot on the throat. From what I can tell from pictures, they most closely matched the Plain-Capped Starthroat Hummingbird pictures - but that species is not known to come this far west - so they were probably some other species. Alas, a larger bird decided that those trees are HIS and ran them off - but what a treat while it lasted!
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5 comments:
What a special experience to have. I love hummingbirds. This doesn't look like any we have here in eastern Colorado.
We have LOTS of hummingbirds too, we love watching them around our live oaks. Their noise is almost frightening! All that noise from such a little body!
How fun that must've been! Could they have been the Anna humming bird? That's the only kind that we ever see this far north. I got buzzed by one once. I thought it was a big bee, & tried to wave it away, as I was cooking on a camp stove, & my husband said "That's a humming bird!". It was a very loud buzz!The Anna's are pretty plain, sort of an olive greenish brown color, with just a little spot of red at the throat on the females. They live mainly in CA, but do travel up here in the summer.
Hummingbirds just continually amaze me! They filled our backyard the day of our outdoor wedding and that was so cool to see!
Hope you are feeling better by now!
At our last house we put a hummingbird feeder on a post in the courtyard just outside the window where my desk was. A h-bird decided it was his. He sat on that post every day like a little sentinel, chasing away any other h-birds that might want a drink. It was such a delight to watch.
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