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).

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Perching before feeding

When Cassie, the Bahama Woodstar mother hummingbird whose nest I'm monitoring, arrives to feed her young, she usually perches nearby before flying to the nest itself, on the look-out for potential predators. Usually she chooses a spot I cannot easily film, but today I could:-


 When she took off she flew directly to the nest and started feeding the babies:


Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Eggs Hatched!

I'm calling the female Bahama Woodstar hummingbird that's nesting in a casuarina tree "Cassie". Her eggs have finally hatched and she's busy feeding the tiny babies (probably 2 of them).






Sunday, March 3, 2019

Hummers in the Bahamas

Since Christmas I've been at our winter place "Calypso" on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera, and have rather neglected this blog. I see hummingbirds here every day - the local variety known as the Bahama Woodstar, which is even smaller than the ruby-throat, though rather similar in appearance and behavior. However, the male's throat is purple rather than red:


Yesterday, march 2, I spotted an active nest, about 12 feet off the ground in a casuarina tree:




The mother seems to be incubating eggs. Here are more videos, shot today march 3: