It’s Humma Time!

I saw a most amazing thing last weekend. I was up in the rear of of our backyard watching a number of bushtits chirping and flitting through the branches of the unknown flowering tree that’s centrally located back there. Suddenly an Anna’s hummingbird dives in and squares off aggressively against one of the bushies only a few feet above me. Buzzing the Bushie and diving at it while putting on a display of spread tail feathers and noisy clicks and chirps, the bushie eventually had enough and vacated the area to a different part of the tree. Then the hummingbird lighted on a nearby branch and stood watch. I was amazed having never seen such a big display of territoriality from such a little thing.

My guess was that even though it’s hella early, the hummer had built or was building a nest in the vicinity and was preventing the bushie from pilfering material from it for use building its own house.

I didn’t locate the hummingbird nest then, but today, bingo — and found it almost completed.

Given the awe I have for the little creatures, I set up the spotting scope and got the cameras clicking both while it was in its nest, on a quince tree limb, and grabbing a sip from a nearby aloe bloom:

Lastly here’s a short vid I got through the spotting scope of the bird sitting in the nest and then leaving it.