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, May 31, 2018

Fred guards the honeysuckle

Once again yesterday evening just after sunset Fred turned his attention to the massively blooming coral honeysuckle climbing up the northeast corner of "Seagull Lodge" (the cabin that is perched at the edge of the bluff above Long island sound) - where I also tend to end the day. In the first video he is perching on a twig just under a bunch of flowers, watching for intruders.


In the second video he gets to work.


Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Coral Honeysuckle



Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is in full bloom at the sanctuary and getting evening visits from our resident male hummer Fred. The next video shows the full extent of this vine, from top to bottom (no hummer though).


Monday, May 28, 2018

Back at the Sanctuary



We returned to the US - Fort Lauderdale - on may 10 and then drove up the east coast, spending a few days with our son Jamie (number one birder in NC, check out his blog), and visiting gardens and historic houses en route. We got back on Long Island may 17,  after inching our way through NYC and western LI in the only heavy traffic the entire trip, and I came out to the sanctuary may 18. Within a few hours I had feeders up and a male hummingbird checking them out, and I've been seeing hummers every day since - probably Fred the resident male, plus brief visits from a another male and at least one female. Frustratingly however my main video camera (a SONY FDR-AX53) developed a fault just before leaving the Bahamas and is still in for repair. I fished out my previous camera ( a Canon Vixia, actually quite a good camera) but it took me several days to find the charger. Then the weather was bad, so it's only today I could try some filming. Here are a couple of attempts - both show males, probably Fred. The second clip initially shows him perched just above a feeder, which he then briefly visits. I've seen him chasing another hummer out of his territory, and also a brief "mating dance". He's spending quite a bit of time on the same perch as last year - the tippy-top of a dead pine, but the closest I can get the camera to this spot is 100 feet away!