4K fred

Fred is now using a more favorable perch, here's one clip I filmed at 4k resolution - note the detail.

My Birthday

Monday was my seventieth birthday, which Claire and I celebrated in Baiting Hollow and in a couple of our favorite spots on the North Fork (Horton Point Lighthouse and Orient Village). Here's a short video of us enjoying the climbing rose "Frances Lester" at the sanctuary.

Fred, and Rambling Rector

 

Another climbing rose

Fred close-up

Fred is also sometimes perching on another dead pine-tree top at the bluff edge in another part of the garden, with Long Island Sound in the background. Sorry for the ubiquitous helicopter noise in the background.

Excitement builds; Coralita

Excitement builds here at the sanctuary.  June is always a quiet month for hummingbird activity because territories have been settled, birds have rebuilt their strength after the migration, and females are now feeding their young an insect-based diet, with only brief visits to flowers and feeders. But mid-june is when the antique roses that climb my wild cherry trees flower, and already some buds are opening. Here is Perennial Blush:

But both Fred and Coralita are putting in appearances. Yesterday I added one more feeder to the array I already deploy, and within minutes Fred showed up and tried it. He obviously approved, because he returned to it repeatedly in the next 2 hours. But here is a visit by Coralita to another feeder,  the one that she usually uses. Both vids are 2X slo-mo.

More Fred at sunset

Better Fred Vid

Yesterday evening Fred arrived once again at the "Cherry Queen" salvia just after sunset - but a few minutes earlier than before, so the light was better, and I was able to shoot a reasonably good long sequence:

Here's the remnants of the sunset a few minutes later:

Fred sups again at Cherry Queen

This evening I returned to Baiting Hollow and sat on the front deck overlooking the Sound and waited to see if Fred would once again take a long bedtime drink from the "Cherry Queen" flowers (Salvia greggii). This time it was a clear sky and I positioned myself between the setting sun and the flowers. Sure enough a few minutes after a  brilliant sunset (when it was starting to get very cold and the light was fading fast) Fred showed up at these flowers, and lingered for quite a while. I was able to get several clips, and first (because of bandwidth limits) I'm showing a couple of the shortest clips, the second one replayed at 8  X slo mo. I'll upload the longer ones overnight, and post separately.

and here's a longer clip from 3 days ago, viewed from the side and in even worse light, so Fred is silhouetted against the gray Sound and sky.

Baiting Hollow or Monte Verde?

When finally the appalling weather lifted this morning, mist was streaming up the western valley, and it was like being in a cloud forest such as  Costa Rica's famed Monteverde - complete with hummingbirds (or at least Fred, the resident male):

Then in the afternoon the mists burned off, and I decided to film Fred on his habitual perch using my old Canon Vixia camera with the 1.5 X supplementary lens, mounted on a tripod. Here are the results, no better really than with the new Sony handheld.

In all these videos the problem is that Fred is just too far away - roughly seventy feet, so that to the naked eye he's just a speck.

Fred snacks at bedtime; visiting procedures

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The past few evenings, just after sunset,  Fred has been feeding at a clump of Autumn Sage (Salvia greggeii "Autumn Sage") even though he completely ignores it throughout the day. Maybe it's because the light is better (though still not good)  on the front deck than almost any other location, or maybe it's simply because that's the time I almost always sit there.
Happy Memorial Day everyone! - even though the weather continues wet, gray and cold on the unofficial start of summer.
Reminder: this will be our last year for public visitation, and only during the period july 20 - sept 15. Although you need an appointment to visit, you can only request this once the actual open days are posted at this blog, starting around july 15. Please do not request an appointment until the available dates are posted.