The hummingbirds have been very active this summer, especially in late summer. I wonder if that's because they are passing through in great numbers as the summer wanes?
I found this somewhere on the big old Internet. Amazing little things.
Ruby-throat Hummingbirds, for example, may travel as many as 2,000 miles between Canada and Panama. The trip includes a non-stop, 500-mile flight over the Gulf of Mexico.
Hummingbirds by nature are tropical creatures. They have been programmed to move north in the spring to exploit the renewed food sources and nesting sites, while escaping the intense competition for the same in the tropics. It is believed that this process began with the end of the last ice age.
[I wish this were a better picture. Kitt has some beautiful pictures of her hummingbirds.]
6 comments:
A Facebook friend of mine (mother of my son's ex-girlfriend. Don't ask.) posted a video of about a dozen hummingbirds at her backyard feeder. My neighbors and I are always so excited when we see the first hummer of the season. They are beautiful!
They are also a model for vertical flight, such as that represented by helicopters, which hover. How they achieve lift without forward motion (as in an airplane) is quite interesting.
Hummingbirds are amazing. We have loads down here, too.
I saw a couple recently at the Orphaned Wildlife Rescue Center, where Tony does some volunteer work. They were resting in a tiny cage, before having surgery for various maladies.
It was interesting because I've never seem them NOT in motion. So tiny.
I don't get to see many, but am always thrilled when I do as I consider them magical. By the way, the WONDERFUL quilt arrived today. What a great surprise after a stressful day and week. Thank you so very much!! (but why did you send back the money?) I was supposed to pay for shipping. I love it! I can't wait to show it off. xoxo
Oh yay! ...it didn't get lost in the mail. And now that it's safely in your hands I feel like I can proudly post a picture of it. Great fun, and even more fun to think of it reaching all the way across the country in less than a week. Hooray for the beleaguered Postal Service.
I'm glad you liked my photos! I just wish I had hummers in my own yard, like you. I rarely see them in town here.
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