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, February 7, 2017

North Fork Rufous Update; Calypso views

I'm happy to report that the 2 rufous hummingbirds that have adopted a North Fork backyard as their winter residence are doing fine. The devoted and tireless homeowner has been releasing live fruit-flies on warmer days, to provide the protein they need. At some point they will presumably head back across the country to their west coast breeding grounds, but the time is not yet ripe yet.
Here at Calypso I've been battling a nasty cold which has left me unable to do much, except enjoy sitting in the park-like grounds. Here are a few videos I shot yesterday showing some of the great variety of palms I have grown over the 25 years we've been coming here.


Here you see (from left to right) a purple Ti plant, a sabal palmetto, a Veitchia arecina, a Royal Palm, a Foxtail palm, a white banana-like Strelitizia nicolai and a pink oleander.



The second video shows the same group of palms etc on the left, and a bottle palm on the right, with a zoom to an oleander blossom.


A triangle palm in the foreground of the next clip.



Friday, February 3, 2017

Blue Boy


The adult male Bahama Woodstar hummingbird has a purple throat gorget, but in the gray light of a cool wet day like today, it looks almost blue. This guy is guarding a feeder just outside our window.