BASICS


BASICS: "Hummingbirds.....where is the person, I ask, who, on observing this glittering fragment of the rainbow, would not pause, admire, and turn his mind with reverence..." (J. J. Audubon).
This is a blog about my summer life at the Baiting Hollow Hummingbird Sanctuary, at my winter garden, Calypso, in the Bahamas, and aspects of life in general.
This private sanctuary is now permanently closed to the general public, as a result of a lawsuit brought by a neighbor. Only my friends and personal guests may visit (paul.adams%stonybrook.edu).

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Bathing Beauty




All being well, we will open aug 1, and many subsequent days in august - details will be posted at this blog. I have been too busy to post recently, but I wanted to share with you the above video. So far this summer I am seeing an adult male hummingbird quite frequently, but only very briefly each time - he is patrolling his territory (the sanctuary) and checking the nectar in flowers and feeders. I also see a female several times a day. But both have been very difficult to photograph. However as I was watering the other day, the male came to bathe on a wet leaf. You can see him in the video, moving around a lot on the leaf, and some drops of water flying about from the sprinkler. Sometimes his red gorget flashes. The movie only lasts about 16 secs (he was bathing for about a minute before I could get my camera), and toward the end he suddenly takes off. This bathing technique is quite typical - they choose a concave wet leaf near splashing water, and delightedly rub their bodies in this tiny bathtub.
I have only seen one mating dance so far this year. I did not get a video but you can see one from last year under the post for july 11 2012 - see here:


Here to end with is a recent photo of one of the Sanctuary's climbing roses ("Etain", an old-fashioned variety), with LI Sound in the background. More posts and updates coming soon....