J: That is a great shot of that hummingbird moth in your avatar!

Wow, I missed a whole bunch of great posts over the weekend. Birds, deer, hummers... Fabulous!

Thanks for the photo of the moth. Yes, that was the first 'hummingbird' I ever say.

greene: I remember years ago when we were in the Bahamas and something freaked me out buzzing around my head. I kept swatting at it thinking it was a large bug or moth of some type. When I finally got a good look I realized it was a tiny little hummingbird (Bahama Woodstar) a much smaller hummer than the Ruby-throated that we see here. I had on a brightly colored fuchsia shirt which I assume was attracting it.

Now that I know what a hummingbird actually looks like I have many plants to keep them happy.
Occasionally one of the males will hover in front of my face long enough that I like to think he is saying 'thank you'.

Whether he is thanking me for the flowers or for not screaming anymore I will never know.

I've been outside off and on since about 7:45 this morning ... working, trying to get river rocks out of a huge bed. I can only do 20 minute stints and then have to come inside because of the heat. Our weather station thermometer is showing 93º and the sensor for that thing is in the shade! It is very hot and humid. I did get a lot accomplished, got a few buckets of rocks and hauled them with a hand truck to my next door neighbor who wants them. We still have sooo many rocks around the perimeter of the house and in all the beds. The elderly lady who lived in this house for many years had a "gardener" do all of her outside work and I have a feeling he talked her into all the rock. Don't get me wrong ... I love rocks but I prefer BIG rocks, like boulders. Ok ... back to the topic of birds. When I came in for a break about an hour ago I was standing at the kitchen window and spotted a hummer at the feeder and grabbed my camera off the counter to see if I could get a couple of pic's. I ended up scaring her off when I got too close to the window; I think it was the glare of the sun on the camera and she spotted me, hung there for a second looking towards the window and then took off.

Greene, too funny I had a hummingbird moth in my yard last fall -- had no idea what it was, had to run in the house and look it up.
Lin, hummingbird photos are fantastic!!
Question - remember my catbird nest? The babies have left the nest, however I still see the mother (I think) catbird around my yard, and I almost feel like she is following me around. She "talks" to me. I can't decide if she is still angry with me for the day that I got too close to one of her babies, or if we have made an acquaintenance. Any thoughts?

Although we had hummers where we lived before not like we do here. I get buzzed frequently but at first I would freak out thinking it was bees!

I got these yesterday through the very dirty front window. It did motivate me to go out and clean them today.








This one posed for me this morning while I was outside.

foraygardengirl said:Greene, too funny I had a hummingbird moth in my yard last fall -- had no idea what it was, had to run in the house and look it up.
Lin, hummingbird photos are fantastic!!
Question - remember my catbird nest? The babies have left the nest, however I still see the mother (I think) catbird around my yard, and I almost feel like she is following me around. She "talks" to me. I can't decide if she is still angry with me for the day that I got too close to one of her babies, or if we have made an acquaintenance. Any thoughts?

Probably just a case of empty nest syndrome!!

But seriously, she may just be curious about this big creature(you) and knows you are not a threat. Try "talking" back to her or if you can put a small dish of some jelly out and she may eat it.

Claudia - I thought of the empty nest syndrome also. I know that I am missing the babies. I did talk back to her...she looked at me and seemed to talk back a little. The jelly is a good idea - I will put some out tonight. I was actually surprised to still see her around. I was looking online and it said they seldom come back to the same nesting area, which makes me a little sad. I would love to have them back again.

Jeanie: Maybe mama catbird is hoping you will feed her ... or perhaps there's a baby in hiding somewhere nearby and she's just scolding you when you get too close to the hiding place? Sometimes baby birds fledge the nest but their little wings still aren't strong enough to get them airborne and they end up perching and hopping around in shrubs for a few days before they really take off. You should try putting out a saucer with raisins and other fruit ... the catbirds love fruit and they love suet too! The Gray Catbirds visit my area in March and April although I have seen a few in the fall (October) too. These are photo's from a couple of years ago :



Claudia:Thanks for the tip about jelly for the Catbirds ... I'd never thought about feeding them jelly; maybe I'll try that when they come to Florida the next time. Great shots of the hummingbirds through the window! I love the shot of the male Ruby-throated in the 3rd picture. All I ever see around here are females. How cool that you had two visiting at the same time! I've seen two and sometimes three around my yard at the same time lately but usually one is chasing the others off. This evening a Hummer came by and was trying to get to the nectar feeder when a wasp kept chasing it off!! The hummer would come right back and one time the wasp really took off after the bird ... finally the hummer left the wasp to the feeder and it went to a hoya plant that is hanging in the tree. This photo is blurry because it was taken at a distance through my kitchen window:

Those are beautiful photos of the catbirds, Lin!

Our hummer feeders are so busy this year. I had to refill the feeder on the front porch tonight. I just filled them on Saturday night! I have never had to do that before in the 7 years we have lived here!

A hummingbird that stopped by a few minutes ago ..

A few more taken between the thunderstorms this afternoon ...

Lin & Dave, please tell me once again what kind of camera each of you have?

Wow, great photos! It is difficult to get hummers particularly.
Mama catbird has definitely been following me around. I put out a dish of strawberries this morning - I know they like strawberries, because they have been eating all the alpine strawberries I grow in my rock garden. I'll try raisins and jelly too-have to stop at the store tonight to get some. I got a not-too-good photo of her this morning. She doesn't appear to be scolding me, maybe just monitoring my behavior, and she looks at me and cocks her head if I chatter at her. She lets me get pretty close sometimes. I do think I may have heard a juvenile-sounding catbird call a few times in the last week or so. I wondered how far the babies could really get because they are still quite small. Haven't actually seen one since they left the nest, though.

@flaflwrgrl Ann most of the photos I have posted in the last several months have been with the Canon SX50. I bought it after seeing Lin's photos and finding out how expensive it would have been to buy a lens for my Canon EOS 20D that would approach the optical zoom capabilities of this little camera. I have been well pleased with it. It has some limitations, quirks and downright inconveniences but the price is right for what I wanted it for.

I was so happy with my Canon PowerShot SX50 until I dropped it and broke it last week. Now I'm back to using the old one (PowerShot SX20) until we hear from the Canon place whether the broken one is repairable or not. My husband asked me this afternoon if I noticed a difference and I said .... well yeah, this SX20 is heavier and I can't zoom in as close. I sure hope my 50 can be fixed.