Nesting Kolibri (Hummingbird) outside my home. Photographs of natural beauties.
It's happened more than once.
A mother hummingbird has built a nest in the bushes beneath the shade of the front patio. Each time I've snapped photos of the tiny birds keeping their eggs warm.
They make nests just large enough to house there little bodies.
As well as room for the eggs inside.
They stay perched always watching for danger. Often when I'm leaving the house they will flutter out of the patio assuming a holding position to observe my intentions.
If I don't move too fast near them they keep a wary eye from their elevated position.
If I get too close they'll buzz by my head and dart toward me aggressively.
Fortunately I only disturbed the mother hummingbirds long enough to snap their portraits. Mommy bird was away when I took a few pictures of the eggs by bending the stalk of the plant to gain a perspective inside the nest.
Sadly I was never able to observe the chicks when and if they hatched. There are stray cats in the neighborhood. They climb on a small tree next to where the nests were built. Unfortunately despite my watchful eye I think these birds were either devoured or forced to abandon their nests. Nature has a perpetual beauty we can observe if we take the time. There is also the cycle of birth and loss for all things no matter how much they fascinate our eyes and lift our hearts.
In some small way sharing these photos immortalizes these creatures who graced my home with their illustrious presence!
What beauties! These are some of my favorite birds. My childhood in the Colorado mountains gave great opportunity to observe and enjoy these birds right outside our kitchen window. They were prolific and captivating. I love that you got close enough to capture her and her eggs. Thanks for the blessed dose of nature. Upvoted and followed!
Thanks for the kind words.
My great grandmother used to plant sunflowers every year, and the hummingbirds used to get into them and eat until they got drunk. She would go around the sunflowers and pick up all the drunk little hummingbirds she'd find and bring them into the store until they sobered up, and started flying around the store. (They had the local candy store...I was a very popular kid back then. d;o) Then she'd open the screen door and out they'd go.
It was something to see...
That story made me laugh. Were the sunflowers fermented?
The visual of picking them up and having them sober up is just too much. Did she give them little coffees and an aspirin? LOL
Hahah! Honestly, I don't know if they were fermented or not, but I seem to remember her (she's been dead since 1974, if I remember right) saying that it was just the nectar from the flowers that did it. Of course, she ran a candy store...she wasn't a botanist. d;o)
All she really did was put a soft towel into a short-sided box, laid them in there, and eventually, someone would notice that there were hummingbirds flitting about the store.
Was a long, long time ago...but some things just stick in the mind. d;o)
That's awesome stuff! '74 was the year I was born. I never had the opportunity to meet any of my great grandparents. That would've been a real treat.
Thank you @curie your work is appreciated!