Saturday, September 8, 2012

More Garden Wildlife

The birds are enjoying the left over sunflower heads in the pipes - there were three of them on one plant in the morning, trying to get at the seeds:

This involved a lot of being upside down...
 I'm not sure what kind of birds these are - at least one of them had a yellow breast, and they were all busy chirping and pushing each other of the flower heads...

The one on the lower right found a flower head hidden under the leaves...
I'm very glad I left these flower heads on, because the birds have been enjoying them for weeks now. I did manage to cut off one head before they got to it, and it's hanging to dry. We'll see if I get some seeds!

In addition to the sparrows, my back garden has been claimed as this particular hummingbird's territory. He (she?) surveys "their" Salvia greggi bushes from the top branch of my Cersis canadensis 'Forest Pansy':

It sits there basically all morning and in the late afternoon, watching for other hummingbirds
 Every once in a while, it will grab a drink off the Salvias:


 Or, it will chase away other hummingbirds, in crazy aerial battles! I'm still trying to get some decent pictures or video of these battles, because they are epic. What's really funny is that while the two are fighting, a third hummingbird will usually come over to drink from the plants...

After the battle is over, he returns to his perch:
Coming in for a landing
And any slow human how gets in the way of either the nectar or the battles is of no concern to the hummingbirds! I was buzzed twice one morning. I'm happy the hummers have found the plants (I think they're Anna's hummingbirds, judging by the size, color and area) and I wonder what would happen if I put up a feeder? I don't think they would share...

2 comments:

  1. The hummers here are very territorial too, they are so fun to watch, but very hard to photograph.

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    Replies
    1. They are so hard to photograph! And whenever they are sitting still, I never have my camera...I tried to get some video, but that didn't work either... They are cute though! And thanks for your comment!

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