The Baiting Hollow Hummingbird Sanctuary: another great day at the sanctuary; separating the boys and girls

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).

Thursday, August 6, 2015

another great day at the sanctuary; separating the boys and girls

Another beautiful day here, with well-behaved visitors who all got an eye

full of good hummer activity. Many visitors ask how one can tell apart the male and female juveniles, since they both have the silver throat and flat tail of the adult females. Often one cannot, but sometimes the boys already have a spot red under the chin -what I call the "drop of blood". Janet Rudolph took this great photo today, which shows this very well. The red spot is made up of several tiny ruby individual throat feathers. Sometimes it has only 1 feather and is very difficult to see, and sometimes there are several red spots, or none. The males develop their complete ruby-throat during their winters in Central America. Of course even though only the adult males have the full ruby-red throat, all members of this species belong to the "ruby-throats", and this is the only hummingbird species that breeds on the east coast, or even east of the Mississippi. The flower is rosebud sage, with bog sage in the background. Fred Junior?

More available slots posted to the right, and many more to come soon. Please, only ask for an AVAILABLE, POSTED, slots.

1 comment:

SoniaAugust 7, 2015 at 8:07 AM
It was a glorious day Paul! Before I left I saw Fred chase a goldfinch away from behind the seagull cottage deck flowers. The goldfinch flew to another branch on the side and Fred bullied him away from there until he gave up and flew off altogether. What a character! Thank you so much for sharing your bit of paradise, it was great to see you
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

FAQs

1. How can I visit? Unless you are an invited friend or personal guest of the owner, Paul Adams, you cannot. The sanctuary is now permanently closed to the general public.

2.Why did the sanctuary close? The sanctuary opened, on a very limited basis, during 1998-2017. However, a neighbor, Kamal Bherwani, and 2 former neighbors, Fred Terry and Shawn Hamilton, brought a $3 million lawsuit, and forced complete and permanent closing. The plaintiffs claimed, incorrectly, that the sanctuary was a "commercial business". Though no evidence for this claim was, or could be, produced, the owner decided to settle the lawsuit and permanently close.

3. When do the hummingbirds arrive and leave, and where do they go for the winter?

They arrive on Long Island late april, and early may. They leave between aug 1 and oct 1. The adult males arrive and leave first, then the adult females, then the young, in order of fledging. They all go to central America via the Gulf of Mexico.

3. What varieties do we have at the sanctuary?

Only the ruby-throat (only the adult male has the ruby throat). This is the only one that breeds east of the Mississipi. The US has about 9 other species but they are all western.

4. Why are there rocks in the trees? How long have you had this place?

I have had the property for 27 years and each year I put a new rock to mark the beginning of a new hummingbird season (may 1).

5. What is the best place to sit to see hummingbirds?

On your bottom! Since you may have to wait a bit choose the spot that best suits you.

6. How can I attract hummers to my yard?

Plant cardinal flower (right variety!) and black-and-blue salvia, maintain a couple of small clean feeders, both placed where you spend a lot of time outdoors (or in front of a picture window). Read this blog or lihummer.org for further suggestions.