What A Difference A Few Days Make

Denise and I were up and ready to shoot some hummers this morning at 8AM.  I know just call us crazy!  Wow have they grown.  One is slightly bigger than the other.  And there was lots of action today.  They are squirming around in the nest and stretching their little wings and legs.  We could have spent all day watching...we will go back...soon.

 

 

 

Baby Hummers

Denise and I went back to check on our babies today and look what we found...

 

Two babies with their heads up.

We waited close to 1 1/2 hours for the mom to feed them.  We did see her approach the nest but she never went in to feed.  Looks like we will be making another trip back on Sunday afternoon to see if we can catch her in the act of feeding.

Look Who I See

 Just happened to be looking at the nesting box at just the right time.  I have been hearing the babies make a fuss and have yet to see them.  That is until tonight!  Now I am not going to get anything done!

 

Must be dinner time!

I see hungry mouths to feed.

What a lucky shot!

Short Visit Today

Today we visited the humming bird nest...guess what we saw...

Two little beaks pointing to the sky waiting to be fed!  We even climbed the ladder again to get a better look and there they were.  Two little heads are as big as the tip of you index finger and now smooth and dark grey.  We didn't see mom or dad at all today.  We plan to go back at the end of the week to see if we can catch a shot of them being fed.  Keep your fingers crossed!

We Have Babies!

Tonight in between the raindrops Denise and I discovered that the hummingbird eggs have hatched.  You ask how we know this?  Because we took a ladder and climbed to the very top, pulled the limb down and looked in the nest.  I saw at least two little tiny fuzzy heads.  We are going to give them about 4 days to grow and the we will return to see if we can get a few shots of them being fed.  We have made so many new neighbor friends.  I think they think we are crazy.  Well, maybe they are right.  But this is a once in a  lifetime experience and we don't want to miss it.

Bluebird Dump

Mom and Dad bluebird are busy feeking 4 babies fed.  We feed them meal worms.  It is fun to watch them take turns feeding the babies.  I keep hoping to see four little heads looking out of the hole.

Going On An Eagle Hunt

Denise and I got word that there are American Bald Eagles at East Fork Lake.  So this morning early we were on the hunt.  Everyone we talked to had a different story about when and  were the eagles were last seen (I checked out YouTube and there is a video from last year).  We drove to several of the boat docks but no luck.  I was really hoping that we would get lucky and see one sitting in an old dead tree.  I had the shot in my mind.  Instead we saw....

 

 blue dragon flies

 

and swallows chasing bugs above the water.

We had some lunch before heading back and decided to skip the hummingbird nest (read about that on The Ellis Family Cincinnati blog) and check out the Cincinnati Nature Center.

We walked to the first bird blind and saw this hanging in a tree.

Thought it was pretty neat.

 Daddy Long Legs sure do have a pretty scary face.

 

My pick of the day...not sure what these little woodpeckers are doing but it makes a rather interesting shot.

There is a story behind this so bare with me.  While we were hiking in the Red River Gorge last week I kept seeing these little things that looked like spit.  Some were on the plants and lots were on pine trees.  I kept telling Mark that I was going to send a picture to my friend Lester Peyton at the CNC because I knew that if anyone would be able to tell me what it was, Lester would be the one...he knows everything about nature.

We pull into the Nature Center and guess who is checking memberships...LESTER PEYTON.  I was more than excite to finally meet him face to face.  We chit chatted for a moment (Denise will say something totally different if you ask her) and then I described my little ball of spit to him.  He wasn't sure what it was but he threw a few things out there.    Low and behold close to the main building there is a wad of spit.  I get a quick shot and run it inside to see someone.  Guess who is now behind the Information Desk...Lester!  I show him my pic and he tells me that it is a spittlebug.  The little bug eats something from the inside if the plant and blows spit bubbles out his bum.  He then covers himself in bubbles and hides in there.  I asked if I could break a leaf off and check it out and Lester said sure.  So now you know all I know about the spittlebug.

First time I have ever seen a Red-winged Blackbird at one of the feeders.  There was a male and female.

Love this little old man of a bird.  Looks like he is 90 years old and forgot his cane. 

 

Then when I get home I find a Baltimore Oriole on the suet feeder.

 

It was a great day...now time for a nap.