Hummingbirds...

The southern AZ area is both the home of some hummingbirds like the Anna’s, and an area for visitors during the migration process.  I always like to include a few interesting facts, some things you might not know about hummingbirds, what I learned as I studied them…

Hummingbirds are beautiful both in appearance and in their ‘dance’.  I never get tired of seeing them, when watching them partake of the flower’s nectar or when they fiercely attempt to protect their territory from other hummingbirds.  These dear creatures usually only live from 3-5 years and their heartbeat can race at as much as 1200 beats a minute, it’s no wonder they like sugar water so much… lol

Here’s a link to a page that has a lot of facts about hummingbirds that you probably didn’t know...

http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/facts.php

I used a baby food jar and some hemp twine to make a hummingbird feeder months ago when I was originally in the Quartzite area.  I just recently revamped the feeder and put it back out to see if I could draw them in close enough to snap some close up photos.  I mounted the feeder on the van’s awning pole right outside of my side doors and it was less than thirty minutes before I had my first and only visitor, what I believe is a female Anna’s hummingbird.  The Anna’s species live year-round in the CA area and often are found in southern AZ.  Most hummingbirds migrate from places as far north as Alaska and Canada, down to Mexico for the winter and then make the trip back north in the Spring…

Just a side note, when I originally had the feeder out I ‘experienced’ a species known as the Rivoli or commonly known as the ’Magnificent’ hummingbird.  How I know, and why I say I experienced it, is because this is one of the largest varieties of hummingbirds.  If you are quiet you can hear the ‘humming’ sound of the bird’s wings of the smaller varieties, but I kid you not, this guy (or gal) came in vibrating like a helicopter, in fact when I first heard it I thought it was a helicopter passing overhead…

Here are some of the first good pics I managed to capture of my new friend.  You can sometimes see it’s tongue sticking out of its beak, and I have even see this one spit out a mouthful (why I don’t know) and then go back in for more…

I had to move the feeder, I was expecting a high wind day and didn’t want the awning to take the abuse, so I created a small rock platform on the ground and wedged the feeder in place so the bird would still have access to the feeder.  The details of the bird are more difficult to make out with the darker background, but I wanted to include these shots too…

This small wonder has become very comfortable with my company.  I was within two feet of the feeder checking on my two solar lamps I had put out in the sun to charge when the hummingbird approached the feeder, albeit with some caution, but quickly began to slurp away without any noticeable hesitation of me standing right there beside of it…