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April 6th, 2010
-------------------------------------------------------------------- The Hummingbird Nest
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5/14 Not more than one hour after taking the last photo, I peered out of my window and found this empty nest. I stood by the window searching the trees, bushes and branches close by and saw neither Po nor Peep. I did see Hum fly in and light on a branch and preen herself. She didn't seem upset, so I am assuming the babies are fine and sitting on a branch somewhere else. I am sad. They have been a part of my day for 5 weeks now. I am proud of Hum for doing such a fine job raising her babies. Now, we will send good thoughts for Po and Peep as they venture out on their own. Hum will continue to feed them now for a few days until they get the hang of it themselves. Thank you all for following this sweet little story, it has been an honor to have had this opportunity. |
5/14 Look who is out of the nest!! After a few minutes he settled right back in. |
5/14 Its difficult for me to sneak up on these little guys. They are always aware of me when I look out the window. |
5/12 Peep sits on the edge of the nest now, stretching his wings. Any day now. |
5/11 Its just amazing how Po and Peep's feathers have come out. They really look like hummingbirds now! Now, when I look out the window they notice me and hold completely still. I think they will take wing in the next few days... :( |
5/9 Po and Peep are certainly getting crowded in the nest. Here Peep is completely on top of poor little Po. They now, stretch their wings and even are starting to preen themselves. Its a bit scary watching because they come all the way out of the nest. I noted last night that Hum does not stay on the nest anymore. I wonder if she sleeps close by? |
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5/6 Wow! Finally I see their eyes open! This is the first day that I have seen their heads actually above the nest. Yesterday, they remained tucked down the whole day. Maybe this is Peep who was born first. They are now two weeks old. |
5/4 With these lovely warm spring days upon us, Hum rarely sits on her babies anymore. I find myself sitting at the window for longer periods of time waiting for her to come and feed Po and Peep. Here I caught her just as she lit on the nest. |
5/4 Po and Peep's beaks now stick out above the nest. I think their eyes are just opening. I believe I was wrong when I said they fledge after 2 weeks. It must be more like 3 weeks. Today, after feeding the babies Hum came right up to my open window not 15 inches from my face and hovered there for a few moments scolding me. |
5/1 Po and Peep are growing by leaps and bounds. Filling the nest now, they are constantly pushing and stretching. Here one of them is pushing his head all the way backwards to find a little more space! Look how much the feathers are filling in compared to two days ago below. |
4/30 The wind has been really gusting and Hum's nest just bobs around like a cork in the ocean. Every once in a while one of the babies just throws himself up and over to readjust himself in the nest. It's really scary especially with the nest moving around so much! |
4/30 Po and Peep are growing rapidly. You can see how they fill up the nest now. Their little beaks are starting to grow and darken. I think their eyes are just about to open. They are just a little over a week old now. A lot is going to have to happen in order for them to fledge next week!! |
4/28 Hungry babies! Hum has a pattern. About every 15 min. she leaves the nest and every other time she feeds Po and Peep. I am guessing the other time she is feeding herself! |
4/26 The growth rate of Po and Peep is amazing! Po is now getting breakfast after Peep got hers. This is definitely a face only a mother could love! His eyes are not even open yet. |
4/25 Things are status quo with Hum, Po and Peep. These two little guys move around in this soft little nest quite a bit. Am I imagining things, or are they filling up the bottom of the next? Their growth rate is amazing. They will fledge two weeks after they hatch! |
4/23 Hum is a really good little mama. She feeds both of them when she comes each time. But I have to say that this whole feeding thing is really staggering if you look how far down she puts her beak. You do the math! You can see how long her beak is here and then... |
WOW! That goes WAY down there. How is this possible???!! I also learned from a freind this morning that the reason Hum put the paint chips around her nest, was to blend in with her surroundings. Makes sense, her nest is right by our white painted house and white balcony railings. |
4/22 11:45 a.m. AMAZING! I actually got to witness this little one coming out of his egg. Here he is struggling to free himself. As quickly as I snapped a few photos, Hum came back and settled back down on her nest. What timing!! Unfortunately it is really dark and gloomy outside, so it is really hard to get a great shot. I am also having to hang out of the window, in order to get a clear shot through the tree. This one I will call Po. Po and Peep! |
4/22 Hooray! Baby #1 hatched probably late afternoon/last night. I think I will call this one Peep. It is pretty difficult getting a good shot. Hum doesn't leave the nest much. Egg #2 should hatch late today/early tomorrow. I had a terrible dream last night that the eggs were abandoned due to the rain and they were completely deformed. Hum was flying around in my office. Whew, I guess I am worrying way too much about this little creature. |
4/20 Still waiting. Hum definitely has a daily routine. First thing in the morning she is off the nest, probably in need of nourishment after the long night. Afternoon's are spent on the nest dozing. Sometimes it is all she can do to keep her eyes open. If my calculations are right, egg number one should hatch Wed. or Thurs. I hope it is after the expected rain on Wed.! |
I noticed yesterday that Hum was hovering around the railing on our balcony. It appears that she was gathering paint chips to add to her nest! Do you suppose that is for water proofing? I sure hope she is not exposing her babies to lead poisoning! :) Notice the one paint chip dangling by a "thread". |
4/12 It is raining pretty hard now. If you look closely, you can see small beads of raindrops on her head and chest. She really hunkers down and I have noticed when it is raining her beak is always pointing up. Wish I had an umbrella for her! |
4/12 Little Hum made it through a pretty heavy rainfall last night. Now it is raining more. The nest is pretty well protected by a large tree over head. I think she was pretty smart in choosing the location of her nest. |
4/11 Its quite chilly here today and we are expecting rain tonight. I sure hope little Hum will make it through. 4/8 Two eggs! I have a feeling little Hum laid this yesterday, because she spent the whole afternoon sitting on her nest. What do you imagine she is thinking about while she sits there for hours on end? Now, we have 2 weeks to wait for the babies to hatch. |
4/7 Hum keeps smoothing and tidying her nest. Still just one egg. The warm desert winds are blowing and her little nest bounces around but she holds steady. Do you suppose she holds on somehow with her tiny little feet? |
4/6 Still just one egg, but she keeps adding "fluff" to her nest. She is a Rufous Hummingbird. I think I will name her Hum. |
I noticed this egg on the morning of 4/5. If you look closely, there is a raindrop haning from it. I was frantic thinking that something had happened to her, because it appeared that she had just left it out in the rain. But sure enough, when the rain really started to downpour, she was there, sheltering her egg with her wings. Raindrops literally dripped off of her beak. I tried for a photo, but the wind was blowing the nest around too much. |
We have always had many hummingbird nests built around our home, but none that were so close with great opportunity for photos. I will update with photos as much as I can so that you can all share in this tiny creatures miracle of raising her babies all by herself! Yep, thats right, the male has nothing to do with her after they mate. This first image was taken on 4/1 when I spotted her outside my office window building her nest. The nest is made mostly of spider webs woven with bits and pieces of grasses and leaves. It takes her about 4-5 days to complete. |
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