Morning Glories: Becky's Garden - Fall 2010, 0 by beckygardener

beckygardener wrote:
Jackie - Thanks! I plant a lot of hummer nectar plants in my backyard, but especially in the southeast back corner. This morning I had the interesting observation of watching two hummers chasing each other around in that corner of my yard for almost 30 minutes. Both managed to get their fill of nectar and then flew off to taller trees near my yard. I don't know if one was the hummer from the front yard or a migrating bird, but the female hummer that has claimed the backyard wasn't tolerating it very well. Their dive bombing techniques are amazing to watch! I tried to get a photo, but they move way too fast! It reminds me of shadow boxing. One hummer follows every move the other one makes, face to face. I was amazed that neither were speared with their long beaks in the fighting. It got pretty fierce!
This is a YouTube video of two hummers fighting over a feeder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aFZCOPorYQ&feature=related The birds in this video had a fighting arena that was confined to a smaller area. They were zooming down and trying to stab each other in my yard with their beaks! I am surprised neither was speared! More like a sword fight, I suppose...

The photo was taken through my closed french doors, the patio screen, and zoomed in as far as I could go. (Obviously my camera isn't that good! lol) The bird at the top is the female that lives near my yard who is possibly here year round. The bird at the bottom is the intruder which appears to be a male rubythroat hummer. The male was possibly passing through on migration to stop for a bite to eat. :-) I might not see him again anytime soon...

Tiffanie - Did your vine finally have an open bloom? If so, I hope you'll get a photo of it and share with all of us!

Dany - Charleen swears by compost tea! You should see her plants!! Maybe she'll stop by and comment about this!

This message was edited Nov 11, 2010 9:24 AM