Outside With The Hummers: Watching The Hummingbirds

It's just Tuesday Steemians. While weekend is still far off, let me share you some happy vibes. Let me take you out in our little haven for a treat - hummingbird watching. Living in a town house with limited space and the love for gardening, we started container gardening. While my parents loves the idea of vegetable garden, I have the eye for flowers and having a few hanging flowering plants, the hummingbirds started to visit. That's when I started having feeders for these small birds.

A hummingbird brave enough to get that close to be able to take a sip as the other hummers chase her away. Or could it be a young one?

It's been over 5 years that we're having feeders in our garden. I can't even remember how I started into it but it is something I intend to keep on doing. These frequent feathered visitors has been a part of our small haven, having them is a pleasure. The humming, dive bombing, singing and their being nosy is a treat we get for having them around. They are also smart. They know how to let us know the feeders need refilling.

Introducing Ozzy The Hummingbird
Ozzy is a regular visitor. He spends the day in the garden watching the feeders, not wanting any other hummingbird to take a sip. He thought it's all his. I'm saying he as he is most likely a male with the bright red color on his neck and head and add to it that he is territorial.

Where Did The Name Came From?
Hummingbirds are curious birds. And since Ozzy is the first one to hang out in our garden, he got the name. From the Filipino word usisero which means nosy (for males) we used to call our regular hummingbird visitor Usisero. And later became Ozzy.

One of the plant supports Ozzy used to perch on. Photo taken June 2014.

A Story Of These Birds Curiosity
Starting to have the trellis for the hyacinth vine, dad and I spent some time outside as he make the trellis. We already have the feeders put up back then. One curious hummingbird came hovering, checking what we are up to. The small bird hovered right in front of dad that he could feel the wind in his face. The hummingbird looked at us and the trellis we're making then took off. It was more likely less than 20 seconds but a priceless moment.

There are also occasions that we're outside tending the plants and these birds would hover few inches in front or behind us checking what we're up to. There are few times I was wearing a red top and went outside checking on the plants. Before I know it, it was me who's being checked by two hummingbirds. One spent the most time hovering around me - probably thinking I was such a big red flower. The other one wasn't so interested and decided to fly away but came back for the other one with a hummer's chip sound then both flew away. Probably made the other hummingbird realized that I'm not a big flower.

Hummingbirds are small birds. And when I said small, here's a photo of how small they are.

Hummingbird perched on a vegetable twist tie. Photo taken 2014.

A tiny feather from a tiny bird. Found these feathers on a lima bean leaf.

Four hummingbird feeders are up as of now - three in the garden and one hanging by the front door. While another hummingbird seems to keep an eye for the feeder in the front door, Ozzy keeps guard of the other three feeders. And he still loves hanging out in the garden in his new favorite spot - under the grapevine.

A hidden spot where he keeps an eye of other hummingbirds coming for the nectar.

Ozzy would spend the day under this grapevine perched on that small branch. A high pitch sound coming from this little jewel means the feeders are off limits to other hummingbirds on their way to the feeder. If they would disregard the warning and goes straight to any feeders, the territorial hummingbird would drive them away. But while he's out there chasing the hummingbird, another hummingbird already took the chance of enjoying the sweet drink while Ozzy is busy chasing away another one.

Another photo under the grapevine where I put up one of the hummingbird feeders.

These small birds are really fascinating how they can hover in mid air while feeding. Here's another hummingbird watching video. This is probably the same hummingbird from the first video that feeds while I'm holding the feeder.

Another hummingbird used to perch on the trellis close to the garage and patio door and seems to be watching the feeder on that side. It tried to shoo away another hummer but the hummingbird is persistent for a sip.

Hummingbird letting another hummer have some sweet drink and is aware of me watching them.

Want To Invite These Birds In Your Garden?
Start Hanging Hummingbird feeders. Consider having flowering plants that attracts them - petunias, bee balm, lavender, aloe vera flowers, fuchsia, salvia and cypress vine are just some of choices that will help attracting hummingbirds. For the hummingbird drink - four cups of water to 1 cup of cane sugar. You can also start with 2 cups of water to 1/2 cup of cane suga. Boiling the mixture for a few minutes will help to get rid of yeast spores and mold that could possibly be in the sugar.

Be patient when attracting hummingbirds. Enjoy their company once they start paying your garden a visit. They are acrobatic - they can fly backwards, upwards, and hover in mid air. And they are curious little birds. With that said, I'm going to finish our trip in our little haven with another hummingbird photo - hummingbird's nest with two young hummers.

A hummingbird's nest where I named the two young hummers Hummy and Mer. Photo taken 2013, April. Their nest was built in an avocado tree. The nest's length is no more than the size of a micro SD.

That ends it. Don't forget to take a deep breath and smile. You're not alone - it's Twosday.