"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Adventures of another hummingbird.

This past winter I watched a hummingbird's adventure in our back yard.  We had an unusually cold couple of weeks, and this one hummingbird seemed to rely on me hanging the feeder out early each morning.  At this time of year there's no need for filling feeders because there are so many of their favorite flowers blooming.  They are all over the front yard; Fuchsias, Monarda, Verbena bonariensis and the Butterfly bush seem to be the favorites.  Several times a day two will fly past me, one being chased by another.  Sometimes as one is feeding on a flower another will hide in a tree chirping.
As I walked out the front door I thought I would try to get some pictures of one of them on the Monarda 'Jacob Cline' since that's always the most popular.


 How lucky that there was one of the Butterfly Bush right then.  I was surprised it wasn't on the Bee Balm since that really is the favorite.
She didn't stay long, but I did get a couple of pictures.

 After she left I thought I'd get the camera focused on the 'Jacob Cline' that I was sure would have a visitor soon.  But, then I thought I saw movement under the plants.

 One of our neighbor cat's was rolling around under the plants, probably breaking more stems of my flowers.  Since they seem to do a pretty good job keeping moles and squirrels and other unwelcome visitors away from the yard in the past few years I've gotten over being annoyed with them.
Then I saw his brother peering out, this one is much more shy.
I figured no hummingbirds would be around with two cats under the plants, but was quickly surprised when an angry hummingbird began dive bombing the black cat and chirping angrily at him.

 She flew just over head to a Weeping Willow and chirped repeatedly, I guess hoping the cats and I would leave.

Here it looks like she dropped her wings down as if to say "I give up" even though she did try dive bombing the cats another time.  She eventually flew off and I chased the cats away.  Not long after I saw her through the window getting the nectar she was after in peace, by then I had given up getting any closer pictures and just watched from inside.
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34 comments:

  1. That is one brave hummer! Such sweet pictures of them too! The cats are cute and do help out with the voles but boy do they do damage to birds.

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  2. Dear Catherine, What a delight to have these lovely birds frequenting your garden. And although I recognise him as a potential menace and danger, I do so love the image of the black and white cat peering through the plants.

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  3. I love that pink butterfly bush!!! You have some great photos.

    Very handsome cats. It's hard to balance the need to control voles, moles, mice, etc and try to protect the birds. Here on the farm I'm overrun with mice, gophers, moles if the cats are kept inside.
    Marnie

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  4. Hummingbirds are so fun to watch. Even when my cats are pretty close to their feeder, they just continue to feed and ignore my cats! You took some great pictures. I notice when I am wearing a bright colored shirt, the hummers come right at me! Your garden is beautiful Catherine.

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  5. You have some nice photos. I have never been able to photograph a hummingbird. Maybe someday, but today it was fun to see your photos.

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  6. If you ever get to many hummers, please send them my way. I put out my new feeder this week for them. :-)
    I try to discourage the neighbors cats from being in our yard. They are scared of my husband so keeping him around seems to help but I know during the day when we're gone, they're stalking the bird baths.

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  7. Usually when a bird is dive bombing a cat, a nest is near by. I wonder if your hummers are nesting somewhere near this spot? I have never seen our many hummers dive bombing our neighbor’s cats. I am eagerly waiting the day I spot a Hummers nest....

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  8. Well you got a good shot of it. If I was a bird that's where I'd be too because your butterfly bush is gorgeous. I get annoyed with the neighbor's cats too. They do keep away the bad critters though.

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  9. What a treat to see more of your great hummingbird pics! I see you have neighborhood cat visitors too. Funny, I have an orange tiger and a black and white cat living right next door to me too. And the black and white is the shy one here as well.

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  10. Wonderful post Catherine...what a magical little hummingbird...i am dazzled..so beautiful!!
    Kiki~

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  11. A very brave little hummingbird. She does like she's letting out a big sigh in the photo where she's dropped her wings. At least the kitties help keep the moles and squirrels out of your yard. I could use a cat or three to help us around here, but unfortunately outdoor cats here don't survive very long. A few too many coyotes unfortunately.

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  12. What lovely pictures and a charming story! It was nice of you to help her out so she could feed in peace.

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  13. I haven't seen a hummingbird dive a cat before, such spunk! I love your pink butterfly bush.

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  14. Great photos, both of the hummingbird and the cats. Where I used to live I got adopted by a stray cat (when I moved houses, I brought him with me and made him an indoor cat). Back then, when he was still living outside, I went out on my patio one day and he came trotting across with something in his mouth. He dropped it at my feet and to my amazement, it was a hummingbird. I gently picked it up, fearing it dead, but I could feel it's heartbeat. I held it gently for a few minutes, and eventually opened my hands and it flew away to safety.

    I hope those cats don't get your hummingbirds.

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  15. Very nice photos, Catherine! You did a great job catching the hummingbird. I always enjoy my visits to your blog! Have a great wknd!
    Hugs, Beth

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  16. Great shots of the hummingbirds, I wonder if she had a nest nearby. The year they nested near our garden they were always diving at us when outside. Their nests are sooo small I could never find it.

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  17. Oh, Catherine, when we studied Hummingbirds they were always the favorite, small, fast and colorful. Their eggs were pea sized and they flapped their wings thousands of times per minute. Thanks so much for the wonderful photos.

    Eileen

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  18. Great shots of all of these hummingbirds...just terrific!

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  19. I've seen hummingbirds exhibit some pretty fearless behavior too ~ it's amazing considering their size.
    You took some good photos. It would be neat (as Skeeter suggested) if they had a nest in your yard. I'm not sure how you'd spot it ~ I've read they are about the size of a quarter.
    I'm not a fan of outdoor cats. Mine gets to go out for a brief, supervised time on occasions, then it's indoors for him. I read the statistics once on how many songbirds cats kill each year and it's staggering.

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  20. ooooh, Lucky you, you got so many hummingbirds in your yard. How awesome! You got some great photos.

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  21. Love your hummingbird photos!

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  22. I love the hummers attitude about things....they are aggressive:) and stand their ground.

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  23. What a neat post Catherine. Once again you've informed and entertained us. I wish I could do posts just even a tiny bit as well as you do.
    Your pictures of hummingbirds are great and I love your full garden picture.

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  24. Love your hummingbird photos and story. They are such brave little birds! They sip nectar only a few feet away from me when I'm in the garden, but if I have my camera with me, they fly away! The favorite thing in my open garden is for me to spray water into the air for them. They fly back and forth until throughly soaked, then sit in the willow tree to preen. I think they love the willows because the thin branches are easy for their tiny feet.

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  25. Wow my new found friend, those photos are simply amazing, I love the humming birds, we have them out side my window too, I keep them supplied in lots of bright flowers and the nectar they love, thank you for these photos they are beautiful. Have a wonderfully blessed weekend. Hugs Barbara from
    http://bakinnbitsbarbara.blogspot.com/

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  26. I love this, Catherine! You've gotten some great photos here. I'm so fascinated by hummingbirds. We have them in abundance, too. Love the photos of the cats, too. :-)

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  27. Catherine I love to stop by here to view your Hummingbird scenes, I do not get to see them on a regular bases where I live ...

    I love the shot you got of it on the Butterfly bush... pretty"

    The black cat reminds me of Panini's ex-boy friend who I meant to catch a photo of while he was squeezing through my fence but was gone by the time I got to my camera.

    have a wonderful weekend..

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  28. Catherine..I love your pictures of your gardens! Thanks for sharing them with us. Have a few questions for you. That Aster"Monch" is it invasive? That is the prettiest I've ever seen. How tall do it get? Does it reseed or do you cut it back to the ground each year after blooming?

    I love that darker pink garden phlox, pictured before David. That's a beauty. Doe David stay white the entire time it is blooming or does it turn a dirty color as the blooms begin to fade?

    Love the Summer Sky coneflower, better than the Mac & Cheese. Might have to add that to my wish list for 2011. Just started growing coneflowers and have no idea what the variety is or them. Some are taller than others but they all look very similar.

    The pink butterfly bush..it that Miss Ruby? I thought MISS RUBY was a deeper pink.

    Curious about the little colored flowerpots turned upside down on green stakes in the flower garden, next to liatris and lupine, and coneflower. Decoration or a purpose? Do I see Tall Verbena on a stick in that same flowerbed?

    Want to try growing sweet peas again this year. I planted a pkt. of climbing sweet peas and my husband put on the soaker hose and it was right where I had them planted. All of green color of the leaves turned natural color and I only had 1 bloom, but the foliage above the mailbox, was green. I think maybe they got too wet? Maybe I could plant them in one of my big patio containers with my 3-4 ft. metal trellis for them to climb. Do you think that would work?

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  29. Go 'way dumb kitty!

    Don't bother the hummers! Go spy on starlings or something there are too many of, okay?

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  30. I love it! The hummingbird dive bombing the cat. I need him here to protect me. I just love hummingbirds. I've tried so hard to get a good photo of one but they are just too quick for me. Your photos are gorgeou.

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  31. Betty189 - Hi! Sorry it took awhile to answer your questions.
    I haven't found this Aster 'Monch' to be invasive at all, the clump does get a little larger but that's it, no reseeding and I don't deadhead it. 'David' does stay bright white for me.
    I think the Butterfly Bush is 'Pink Delight', that's what another blogger thought. It came mislabeled so I'm not positive.
    The little flowerpots are my attempt at being creative while trying to protect peoples eyes from the stakes that seem to blend in with the plant. The pot covers the end and I thought looked cute. Yes I do have lots of the tall Verbena, it does reseed all over the place.
    My sweet peas are growing in a half wine barrel and I do try to keep on top of watering them. I think they are pretty heavy feeders so maybe too much water washed away the soil nutrients? I hope you have luck with them in the container. The lower leaves of mine usually look faded or brownish as the season goes on.
    Thanks so much for visiting!

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  32. Those are great shots of the drama in the garden. That's a lot of confidence for such a small bird to try to chase away the cats. I especially like the photo of the hummingbird enjoying the butterfly bush.

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  33. how I love little hummingbirds.... your header photo is really beautiful!

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