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).

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

eggs in the nest; rain in the forecast


If it should rain tomorrow morning, I urge those who have appointments to brave the elements and still visit, because hummers can be quite active in the rain and we provide shelter from which to view them.
If you do not come you will have to ask for a new appointment and slots are rapidly filling up.


D was able to hoist his camera up 12 feet to photograph the interior of the beautiful nest on which a female hummingbird (I will call her Lady Di) is currently sitting in Manorville. As I predicted there are 2 tiny white eggs in the bottom; bear in mind that a dime would barely fit into the interior of this nest, about the size of the above thumbnail. Lady Di was far away when D took the picture, and she returned   to her nest shortly after, blissfully unaware of the surveillance. The nest is a little jewel, a perfect comfy bowl of spider web, lichen, down and other materials, amazingly strong, flexible and soft - and almost impossible to spot unless one carefully follows the mother.

Much needed rain is in the forecast for later today, tonight and in to tomorrow. Let's hope that her nest survives the drenching. She will probably sit tight throughout, trying to protect the nest and eggs. Some of my readers will have followed the fate of a hummingbird nest I followed and filmed earlier this year (see this blog starting february 10). The nest belonged to a Bahama Woodstar hummer called Gumbo. Woodstars and Rubythroats (the species we get in the eastern US) are very similar in size, appearance and behavior. Gumbo's nest was badly damaged by a storm but she managed to repair it and successfully raise her young, as documented on this blog. Hummers are tiny but very tough.


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