Hummingbird Pictures

[NJSk8Fan]

I sit for hours on my back porch waiting for the hummingbirds to come to the feeder and then start snapping away. This year we were treated to a male and female visiting. The female really had personality....she'd hoover at the window and look right in at us!
The female:

The male:

 

[Mathman]

Wow, great pictures, especially the first one!

Mathman

 

[Grgranny]

Love your hydrangea too!

 

[purplecat]

I love hummingbirds! We have a feeder in the front yard and one in the back yard. They come all the time, but I think they're nearing their migration time...I haven't seen as many lately.

We even had a couple hummingbird nests. One was used three or four times (those lazy hummingbirds...reusing nests!) But that was always so cool to see the babies!

 

[SingAlto]

So pretty! When I lived in California, we had a hummingbird that sat on a wire near our feeder and chased away any other hummingbirds that came near the feeder. He'd even go after yellowjackets! He came back (at least I think it was the same bird) a few years in a row, so we nicknamed him "Sam". Here in Oregon, we live in a gated community that doesn't allow homeowners' cats to roam outside, so there are tons of birds. Everything from Black-Capped Chickadees to Robins and Scrub Jays. My absolute favorite is the family of California Quail living under the bush in front of our house. I jokingly refer to them as "Dan, Marilyn and the Fam". Get it? Dan & Marilyn Quail/Quayle?

 

[dobiesk8r]

More hummingbird fans! We have two feeders by our deck and the hummingbirds come to visit from May to September here in horse country NJ. They build their nests in the trees outside my window. We have gotten more and more each year - there were about ten this summer including the babies. They are the most amazing birds to watch and the males are extremely territorial. I miss the sound of them chittering at each other.

Great photos NJsk8fan.

 

[NJSk8Fan]

Dobieskater, your comment "here in horse country NJ" piqued my interest...I'm in southern NJ...in the somewhat countrified area south of the small City of Woodbury.
Our hummers visit the same time as yours, May thru early Sept. They've departed for the season now. These photos were all taken between June and August. I have more...I'll look up the best and post them. I have not been lucky enough to find a nest, yet, or see babies or young ones at the feeder.
The female chases the male away if he comes while she's there.
Grgranny, that hydrangea is an old one...I am a fairly decent gardener but confess I never do the acid thing with the hydrangea...I use an organic fertilizer, tho. I really should study up and take better care of that bush as it's done so well all these years with the little care I give it.
I'm trying to turn that section of the yard into a totally hummingbird friendly area since we sit on the enclosed back porch as often as we can in good weather. Porch isn't heated or air conditioned, tho...sometimes the heat chases us into the A/C section of the house.

 

[NJSk8Fan]

Rather than post all the pictures here, I'll provide a link to a page that has a bunch of my hummingbird pictures on it, along with some other family pictures of my Jack Russell Terrier...click on the link below and scroll down the page to find the hummer photos:
http://miscpicstopost.homestead.com/temporarypage.html

 

[Grgranny]

I have two blue hydrangeas. Some years they do great and others not. Our soil is full of lime. This year I acidified them once and they were really blue. Now I see there are some new flowers starting to bloom. I don't remember if they had bloomed twice before or not. I think I've had them over 30 years. Some years they don't bloom at all. I just haven't been very good about taking care of them like I should. I do have to buy straw and pile on them after it freezes. Usually takes about 3 bales. The flowers that bloomed earlier last spring have lost their color and I need to cut them back. Just had so much going on haven't been able to trim them yet.

I still have hummingbirds but not as many as a few weeks ago. I have 2 feeders. One off my kitchen window and one in the back on the patio roof. They sure are little fighters. They keep dive bombing each other. Some of mine are the ruby throated. I usually don't know otherwise. I sure enjoy them.

 

[dobiesk8r]

NJsk8fan, I'm out in Far Hills, right by the US Equestrian Team. There's minimum 5 acre zoning where we live and many small farms that have horses. (Our farm has 30 acres of trees - no livestock unless you count the dog and cat!) All the woodland makes for lots and lots of hummingbirds, as well as bluebirds and goldfinches

We've been here for 7 years and we have more birds every year. They tell their friends and family members about our hummingbird bar

Your photos are awesome - cute puppy and child. It seems like everyone has either Jack Russell terriers or King Charles cavalier spaniels these days - they have become extremely popular breeds.

 

[Dee4707]

NJSk8fan, thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures and site with us. Super great pictures!!!

Dee

 

[NJSk8Fan]

Thanks everyone for the compliments on my photos. I love to "play" around with the camera--I have a TON of photos on line at various places including several webpages I made. I love to share/show them off! I don't remember if my home page is listed in my profile or not, but from it you can get to my other pages.
I must confess, Dobiesk8er, that I had to look Far Hills up on the map, you are quite a bit North of me. We're in the farming area of Southern NJ but the urban sprawl is encroaching closer and closer every year, it disgusts us. We're lucky enough to have 80 acres of farm or woodland around us that either we or other family members own, "only" 8 houses on our mile long road.
My Jack Russell, Aggie, is nearly 15 years old now, she's the child we never had.
The little girl in the photos is my "surrogate" daughter, so to speak, I have been providing childcare for the same family for over 20 years now....the girl is 14 years younger than her big brother whom I cared for thru the 80's and early 90's. I've been caring for her since she was 7 weeks old and she just turned 9.

 

[dlkksk8fan]

NJsk8Fan-What great pictures! Thanks for sharing them.

 

[dobiesk8r]

NJsk8fan, when reading your post, my thought was that the parents of the children you care for are very lucky to have found you. (Side note - my sister just had twins. She is a single parent and she is going back to work. It will be interesting to see how her nanny arrangement will work out. Unfortuntately I live 1.5 hours away and have two teenagers)

Ah, urban sprawl. I deplore it, which is a bit hypocritical since we bought land and built a house, thereby becoming part of the sprawl. But we like a rural feel, so we maintain a stewardship forest and farm status (which is a surprising amount of paperwork along with the usual work to comply with the forester's plan). But for real sprawlers I have my lovely neighbors who mowed down acres of trees on their 20 acre property - so that they could go ATVing in the woods.

 

[iluvtodd]

NJsk8fan, your pictures are great, as usual! Always a pleasure to view them!