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).

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Visit to Long Island Hummingbird Plants, in Medford


I just got back from a visit to Bill Koller's place in Medford, where he runs Long Island Hummingbird Plants. His front yard garden is now in full splendor, full of hummingbird favorites - and hummingbirds. It's quite amazing to come off the LIE and less than 5 minutes later to be surrounded by zooming hummers and their favorite plants, some of which are ENORMOUS! His Mina lobata is a waterfull of blossom twelve feet high, there are porterweeds, salvias and other goodies galore, and his "Phyllis's Fancy" salvia (a close kin of "Waverley") has grown in 3 months from a 2 inch pot to a gigantic woody bush, like in California. And hummers busy everywhere at these flowers, chasing each other, and taking time outs (often together) on various perches. There's still time to pick up some special plants, have a couple of weeks of action in your yard, then overwinter them inside (or in many cases in the ground) ready for early may when they will be back. If you want to buy plants please make an appointment with Bill, but you can stop by any time and admire the plants and action from the kerb (please, do not venture beyond the public road unless you have an appointment to buy plants). He's located at the very end of a quiet cul de sac (Classic Court) with plenty of space to park and admire at his front yard from the road. Take the LIE to the 112 interaction, go south on 112 past the railroad bridge, turn left (east) on Jamaica and after several stop signs turn right on Paple then immeidiately left into Classic Court. It's a good example of what almost anyone on Long Island can achieve with a bit of effort.

I forgot to take my camera so here's a couple of recent shots from the sanctuary, by Bob Immoor. The first (see top) shows a hummer at Salvia involucrata (Rosebud Salvia) "Bethellii", and the second shows my Gloriosa rothchildseana in bloom (but this year no hummer visits). Lot of activity at the sanctuary yesterday and today, I shot a lot of video but it will be a while before I can sort through it and upload to Youtube. I'll probably wait until all the hummers are gone, which will happen soon


3 comments:

  1. I have seen frenzied activity throughout the day today, Sept. 18th in my Eastern Nassau backyard. In July and August I had 4 resident hummers (one an adult male, one definite adult female and one definite juvenile male) until about a week ago when they all disappeared. I guess today's hummers are migrants...
    When I saw the story about Lady Di and Junior I was wondering whether I might have actually seen a fledgling myself. For a few days mid-August there was indeed a fifth hummingbird, always at the same feeder. It was noticeably more rotund than the others. Could my "Molly" have been a newborn?

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  2. Irena - yes, activity seems high at the moment all over the island - but it cannot last! thanks for your interesting observations, which will encourage all Nassauvians (I hope I got that right!) to keep trying. Remind us where you are located.

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    1. I am in Woodbury, just west of Huntington. Crazy activity continued today, I was able to capture two hummers in the air as they were chasing each other while the third snuck in to feed...lots of "nectar" gone, so they are fattening themselves up!

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