Does This Blog Make Me Look Fat?

66 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. This is why I suffer through the 110 degree summers. Sluggo is still here guarding his feeder. I wonder if he's decided to hang out for the winter?

Yesterday we almost had our first fatality in the Hummingbird Wars. Two hummers were  going at it and flew into the patio window. One of them landed on the mat in front of the door for a minute or two amidst the little hummer feathers scattered all around. At first we thought he was dead. Eventually, he took off so he must have just been dazed.

It was quite traumatic though because as I've watched the hummers all summer they have practically become family pets. I watched all day hoping to see them chasing each other again. Toward the evening, I did see Sluggo back in the palm tree guarding the feeder, but he wasn't his usual noisy self. Maybe that was one hummer that had eaten crow.

For a few months now, I’ve felt like Captain Ahab in the novel “Moby Dick”. Since we moved into our new house last March, I have been trying to photograph the hummingbirds that come to my feeder. They became increasingly territorial as the summer wore on, and I’ve made it my (thus far futile) mission to try and photograph the hummingbird wars that have been taking place. Today was the closest I’ve come…those little shits are fast! The picture below was taken a second or two before the battle.
 
And now, within the past couple of weeks, the finches have decided they like to drink the sweet hummingbird nectar!

(I know this picture is lousy, but I took it through the screen door with my 50mm manual focus lens, unmetered.)

The other night I sat out for almost an hour and watched the hummingbirds. The bully spent the better part of the hour chasing away all the other hummingbirds from the feeders. I condensed it all into the short video below.

In the first part you’ll see him come up to the feeder and eat. Next he perched himself in the lemon tree about 5 feet away. You’ll hear him chirp as he warns one of the other birds when it gets too close to the feeder. Keep watching and you'll see him trying to catch something, visible only to him, flying through the air. I took 30 straight minutes of video of him sitting in that tree guarding his territory. I bet you never knew hummingbirds would sit still for so long. After that he roosted on the chain to the planter where you’ll see him get upset and chase another bird away.

You’ll also have to listen to the air conditioner, unfortunately, and the newly self-crowned hummingbird expert sharing her vast knowledge with Bill. :-)

Notice how the bird’s color changes depending on the angle of his head. I really could sit and watch these things for hours.

UPDATE: I've noticed that he's started spending most of the day in the lemon tree. Maybe because it's shady. When I go out he flies over to the palm tree and barks at me from there.

We had a really nice June, falling only a couple of days short of tying a record for most consecutive days under 100 degrees. Things are heating up now!

Yesterday was a wild day around the hummingbird feeders. The Boss, who I have decided is a Broad-Tail male, was roosting on the chain and chasing all the other hummingbirds away when they came up for a drink. This went on for several minutes. He was quite vocal about it, too. LISTEN.

This morning, I saw one of the other hummingbirds coming up for a drink just before the heat of the day set in. I decided to take the camera and see if I could get some pictures. I was able to get a few good shots that have helped me identify what I believe is a Costa's male. I had suspected this because of his flared neck feathers but hadn't been able to see the purple coloring until it was caught by the camera flash.