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Tuesday, March 08, 2011

rose sucker

chuparosa, hachisuzume, colibri - oiseau-mouche...

by any other name, hummingbird!

if you recall, I have a special attachment to hummingbirds...I talked briefly about it in this post.  I failed to mention that they remind me of both Chad, as well as my Mom.

anyway, I've been carefully observing the cycle of life of Mama Hummingbird who nested right off my deck and the two 2 beautiful babies that she's been dutifully raising.  I've run the gamut of emotions, from awe, anxiety, indignance, indifference, hope. (are those all emotions????)

it was suggested that Mama might be a first time mother, or practicing with nesting because it was a bit early for egg laying.  I was especially worried when I first saw babies and it was sooo cold here in SJ (32 degrees).  my bff told me that nature could go either way, that's just the way things are.  I understand this, but I was still rooting for the babies survival.  I threw my hands up in defeat, because I didn't need one more thing to worry about, until on my birthday I saw a little head pop out of the nest and bebe look directly at me.  then it was really windy.  then the HOA decided to start on the exterior painting project, complete with pressure washing.

so far babies have made it!!!  and are flourishing!!!  Mama's buzzed me on several occasions for getting too close to the nest in my efforts to photograph the bebe's progress.  I felt horrible to think that she left without feeding babies because of me!

sychronistically, this weekend, I will be visiting southern Arizona and staying at a B&B in Madera Canyon well know for its abundance of hummingbird activity.   I suspect and am hopeful that my own babies will have left the nest by the time I get back.





5 comments:

Marit said...

Terrific photos dear! Ooooh... isn't life sweet (when there are no cats around...)

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

My Mom loves Hummingbirds too....and you should see a lot of them here in AZ!! They are everywhere here! I loveeeeeeeeee the photos! :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

jamie said...

super pictures!!! Maybe Mama Hummningbird will come back next year!

Patricia Roebuck said...

Wowser, I cannot believer how close you got to them...or was that a zoom?! I had baby Cardinals outside our window a couple of years ago...so exciting to watch them!

Sharon Fritchman said...

Oh my goodness! What amazing photos you have here! So touching!!! TFS!