Wednesday, July 6, 2016

the Hummingbird story 6th of July 2016

So the rufous tailed Hummingbird female started I guess around the 3th of June with laying eggs. How long did it take to build a nest, I don't know ...it all happend very close to us...but as noisy they are ..how sneaky they can make a nest and have chicks...
As you can see on the picture I took in the forest (10th of June 2016)...easy to walk by...
I checked the nest very quickly and 2 small white eggs were in it...I did not take a picture of that , did not want to disturb. When I walked away..I waited from a distance of 4 meters or so and there was she...I zoomed in of course:

And so once in a while I walked the trail and of course I could not resist to keep an eye on her nest...
The incubation last about 14 to 16 days.When the chicks hatch they are around the 2cm long and naked and very short beaks
The 19th of June 2016 the chicks were there in the nest..they did have already some plumage, so I guess they were born at least 7 days before I took this picture :

And then it goes fast... 28th of June :

30th of June:
2th of July:


4th of July:
5th of July  1 chick left over..I guess the other one fledged...
And then this morning 6th of July, I was standing on a distance and did see through my binoculars "left over" chick being restless.....
I took a very fast picture from a distance..so it is a kind of blurry...
And OMG...the chick flew with a very cute little peeping sound...and there he/she disappeared into the wild!!!
Then yes I could not resist..finally I could see the nest very close by.... put my hand around it, to show how small...
And a close look before the rain will make it ugly...

 Then I decided to sit and wait with my binoculars from a distance to see what happend.
After maybe 5 minutes..the female came..checked the nest for at least 5 minutes and what she did also..she was cleaning it out, very careful she picked up the small insects...probably mites and so. There was a lot there, she was really eating all the time or did put it in her crop...probably to give it to her chicks. And then she did flew in the direction where the chick disappeared.....

Greetings Terry
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