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There's a humming bird nest in front of my garage

MissGotRocks

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That is the coolest thing! Such a wonderful opportunity to see these birds up close. Thanks so much for the astonishing pics - I will be checking back for sure!
 

tyty333

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Great pictures @kenny ! Thanks for sharing!
 

junebug17

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Wow, fantastic pics! I can't get over how small the nest is. Very cool for you and your SO (cute story!) to be able to watch this sweet birdie. Thanks for posting!
 

Karl_K

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Thank you for the pics Kenny!
 

Ally T

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Fabulous picture! What beautiful birds they are!
 

kenny

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FWIW I plan to take more pics of this exciting event over the next few weeks.
Hopefully I'll get pics of the babies - though I plan to bend over backwards to not be too intrusive.
 

stracci2000

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Kenny, your photos are great. I'm looking forward to more!
Several years ago a hummingbird mom built a nest under the eave of our gazebo in the backyard.
We could see the nest real good from the kitchen window, and we watched closely with binoculars, as well. We did not disturb her. We avoided the back yard, so she wouldn't be spooked.
The mom sat on the eggs for a while, then she went away. We waited and waited for her to return. After about 2 weeks, we knew she wasn't coming back.
We eventually removed the nest and eggs, and we have them in a little box in the garage.
The nest is about the size of a walnut shell, and the eggs are about the size of black beans.
Too bad they never hatched.
Who knows why she left the nest.
We once had a dove build a nest in the trees in our yard, and she left the eggs, too.
I read somewhere that the mom will know if the eggs aren't viable, and she will move on.
 

Matata

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I think it's an Anna's hummingbird. Looking forward to seeing the little ones grow.
 

Diamond Girl 21

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Hummingbirds are so beautiful. They are like tiny, living, precious jewels. Can't wait to see the babies.
 

DAF

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Beautiful Pictures, Kenny. She looks so happy and proud, and she's watching you.
 

kenny

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Ethel's two little chikidees are doing well and growing fast.
I'd guestimate her two eggs hatched about 3 weeks ago.
When I started this thread, almost 2 weeks ago, they must have just hatched because they looked like two tiny but fat and featherless roaches.

I took these 2 pics today when mom was shopping for food.
Now that the kids have some insulation she can saty away longer and bring back more yummy bugs from the meat department. :cheeky::cheeky::cheeky:

Notice the slightly older one on the left already has feathers emerging from the tips of their sheaths.
I can't tell whether their eyes have opened yet because there are branches in the way that I don't want to touch.

I'm trying to be minimally intrusive while still getting a few pics.
Good macro gear makes not only tiny FCDs and shrimp embryos look big, but also itsy bitsy baby hummers. :mrgreen:
I would have placed a dime in the nest to show scale but I don't think Ethel would have appreciated that.


hummers A 4-23.png

In the below pic you can see the already see the long tongue for sucking nectar from deep down in the throat of flowers.

Hummers B 4-23.png


Hummingbird tongues are tiny pumps that spring open to draw in nectar​


 
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MRBXXXFVVS1

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So cool, love the photos and look forward to seeing more!
 

Matata

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Snort, I love the pin feather stage when nestlings look like porcupines. Thanks for the update Kenny.
 

stracci2000

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@kenny, I asked DH about the hummingbird nest, and he said that it fell apart when he tried to remove it from the eave under our gazebo, so he didn't keep it.

But we still have this one egg.
It is so thin! I handled it as gently as I could with tweezers, but it still crumbled a bit. I guess the egg wasnt viable, as it is perfectly clean inside the shell.
IMG_20210423_194053903.jpg
 

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kenny

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How cool, stracci.

I looked in and under the nest, but never found any egg fragments.
I wonder if some species of hummers eat their shells for additional nutrition.

Shrimp in my aquarium eat the exoskeletons they shed when the body underneath grows.
Shrimp, and I think snake, exoskeletons don't grow so when the critter inside grows it crawl out of their old one and hide from predators till their new one hardens.

Maybe Ethel pushed her shells out of the nest and some critter ate them.
 
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pinkjewel

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Have you seen a male hummingbird around, Kenny? He would give a better idea as to which type of hummingbird they are. Great photos as usual!
 

junebug17

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those are wonderful pictures @kenny, they look so professional. At first I thought you found the pics on the internet lol. How cool to be able to watch these baby birds. Thanks for the update.
 

Mreader

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Last summer we had a firecracker plant and a hummingbird would visit each day around 10am - I’m not a good photographer and I would miss that little sucker each time - they are so fast!! One day I did manage to capture two pics.

1C8ED02C-92F4-4D4A-9D21-C62920DAB240.jpeg

B0773A27-697C-4E64-BA2F-23D3D057FE06.jpeg
I can’t wait to see more of Kenny’s photos!
 

Polabowla

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Last summer we had a firecracker plant and a hummingbird would visit each day around 10am - I’m not a good photographer and I would miss that little sucker each time - they are so fast!! One day I did manage to capture two pics.

1C8ED02C-92F4-4D4A-9D21-C62920DAB240.jpeg

B0773A27-697C-4E64-BA2F-23D3D057FE06.jpeg
I can’t wait to see more of Kenny’s photos!

Gorgeous! Look at those teal feathers
 

junebug17

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Last summer we had a firecracker plant and a hummingbird would visit each day around 10am - I’m not a good photographer and I would miss that little sucker each time - they are so fast!! One day I did manage to capture two pics.

1C8ED02C-92F4-4D4A-9D21-C62920DAB240.jpeg

B0773A27-697C-4E64-BA2F-23D3D057FE06.jpeg
I can’t wait to see more of Kenny’s photos!

Wow, these are amazing @Mreader!! You are definitely a good photographer!
 

Mreader

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Wow, these are amazing @Mreader!! You are definitely a good photographer!

Thanks @junebug17 but they are blurred and the focus is more on the plant than the bird. I have a DSLR but use it on the dummy auto setting; for this little guy I had to do my best on the manual settings. I got a million blurry pics before getting this one. Kenny is much more talented lol.
 

kenny

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Beautiful pics, Mreader. :kiss2:
Catching a hummer in flight is quite an accomplishment! :clap:
I've never managed it.

While DSLRs are extremely powerful, it is far from obvious or intuitive how, when, and why to use their many features and controls.
So, nearly everyone leaves em on AUTO, which is usually fine but at times it's a bit like never driving a Ferrari over 20 MPG.
Sometimes to achieve a certain pic you have to go 160 MPH.

Since it is far from obvious how to get the most from a powerful DSLR, maybe I'll start a fresh thread here on some basics of DSLR use.
I'm sure some folks with a DSLR would like to take it to the next level.
 
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Mreader

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That would be a cool thread @kenny and the Ferrari analogy is a perfect one!
 

derbygal

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Oh, I'm in love with this cutie. I am passionate about feeding them here. We usually put out at least 10 feeders. Anxiously awaiting their arrival some time this week. Thanks for sharing @kenny
 

KristinTech

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I love your pictures and updates, Kenny! This was the last hummingbird of the year for me last fall—mid October. Just taken with my old iPhone 7 Plus through a dirty window! Hah. I couldn’t believe that the last pic was my best of the season. I have all three of my feeders out and I’m awaiting their return! Several were just spotted in my town yesterday.
 

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kenny

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Thanks all. :dance:

Mym how they've grown! :-o
Gotta get a new pic soon.
 

pearlsngems

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About an hour ago a male ruby-throated hummingbird flew up to me as I stood just outside my door, looked me over, then flew over to the feeder 6 feet away, and drank while I watched him. I had just changed the nectar earlier today, so it's nice and fresh. (Nectar spoils so it has to be changed out every few days to a week, depending on how warm it is.)

This is the earliest we've seen hummers. The previous 2 years, it wasn't until the first week of May.
 
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