Hummingbird rescue

We have a camera set up that takes pictures of the hummingbird nest every few minutes and transmits them to the Internet. Yesterday, we noticed one baby missing from the nest. After verifying with a few more photos that the baby was missing, we started looking for it under the nest.  We found it a few feet away and scooped it up and put it back.  After a while, it settled in next to its sibling and we were relieved when the mother returned and fed them both.

They should fledge in about a week, and we will be nervously watching and hoping it doesn't fall out again.

We think the mother has got the message. Today, a windy day, she sat on the nest on top of the chicks.

A few days of photos from our birdbaths

Finches and Goldfinches



Leucistic Goldfinch


Hummingbird


Black-headed Grosbeak


Hooded Orioles


Lawrence's Goldfinch


Band-tailed Pigeon

Black-headed Grosbeak

Hummingbird nest update

We had the first sign that the hummingbird eggs hatched on Saturday. Instead of just sitting on the nest, the mother was observed standing on the side with her beak inside the nest. we didn't want to get close to peek in, so we waited patiently a few days. Finally today, we got a photo of the mother feeding. There were two tiny beaks visible.

Female Hooded Oriole at the bird bath

Hip, hip, hooray, the hooded Orioles are back in town! Isn't she pretty by the roses? We have gone back and forth on the roses, keep them, pull them out, because they are not drought tolerant. They sure make for pretty photos though, and the birds love eating insects from them. After consulting a rosarian and having him work on our roses, we decided to keep some. We filled the jelly feeder up the very first day we heard the Orioles, and they have found it already so expect lots of pictures of these beautiful and fun birds.