Terre Pruitt's Blog

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Posts Tagged ‘hummingbird feeder’

A Little More Brave

Posted by terrepruitt on July 16, 2018

It was way before 2008 that I first noticed an oriole on our hummingbird feeder.  I didn’t know what it was then.  I got a picture of one on a feeder in 2008.  I don’t know that I saw any more for years. Now they are regulars. In fact I am rushing to post this so that I can go fill the feeder they just emptied. I’ve mentioned before that the feeder we bought specifically for the orioles is way too difficult to clean. It is very narrow and I am not sure I can get the brush in there and get it clean enough. They are much dirtier than the hummingbirds. Or something. It could be that they have to get their beaks all the way in whereas hummingbirds have long tongues. I am not sure, but the hummingbird feeder they primarily eat off of is way more gross than the ones the hummingbirds eat off of. It gets this black sludgy stuff in it. This time of year it is not so bad because I am filling it every three or four days. Our hummingbird feeders come apart and are very easy to clean so we just take the flowers off of them so that the orioles can get their beaks in for the sugar water.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise ClassesI think the orioles we get are Hooded Orioles. I originally read (now I can’t find it) that they depart in July, but now I am looking at a site that says they depart in August. So we might have them another month or so. I am trying to keep the feeder full so they have enough before they go. But I try to keep them all full for the hummingbirds anyway.

The orioles have gotten a little more brave as they used to fly away immediately if we even walked into our living room. But now they will stay at the feeder or even come into the yard when we are in the living room. And they are so brave that now they are eating at the feeder that is close to the window. They are tormenting my cat. She climbs up on the cat tower and talks at them. She reaches at her paw for them. There were two on the feeder today while Nessa and I were playing and that quickly distracted both of us.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise ClassesI guess over the summer they have gotten a little used to us so they are not as fearful.  They are still very cautious, but they are less freaky and will stay and eat as long as we are not too close.

My husband said he saw six last night around the feeder . . . that could be why it is empty and I have to fill it.  I know that I have seen two brightly colored ones together, so I know that there are at least two males.  It is difficult to tell the females apart but I have seen at least four together so I know that there are at least four of them.  I have never seen all six together.

Since they have gotten a bit brave I was able to take closer pictures.  So here are a few.

Do you get to see birds in your yard?

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Posted in Birds, Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Tiny Feather

Posted by terrepruitt on November 17, 2017

This just fascinates me. This is just a tiny feather from a hummingbird. I am always amazed at how tiny they are. The yellow flowers barely measure an inch at the widest point.

Hummingbird feather for a Friday Photo

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Posted in Friday Photo | Tagged: , , , , | 8 Comments »

Whose Feeder Is This?

Posted by terrepruitt on July 21, 2017

This is from a long time ago. We kept having orioles on the hummingbird feeder. They used to pick the yellow flowers off the hummingbird feeder. So we bought them an oriole feeder. But they like the hummingbird ones better.  The oriole feeder is really difficult to clean. Could be why they like the hummingbird feeders better. They probably taste better because they get cleaned better.  The hummingbird feeders can be taken entirely apart.  So I am able to make sure I get it ALL cleaned. Since the orioles pick the flowers off the hummingbird feeders so they can get to the sugar water, we just leave one or two off now.

Here you can see a hummingbird looking at the invader. Can you see him? Ya kind have to look closely.

Hummingbird and oriole for the Friday Photo.

 

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Posted in Birds, Friday Photo | Tagged: , , , , , | 12 Comments »

Re-visiting Our Yard

Posted by terrepruitt on June 13, 2015

I love our yard.  It is very small, but often very full of activity.  This year we have new visitors to our yard.  I know that we have had one once or twice, that I have seen, in the past.  But this year they are regular visitors.  They might have been regular visitors for some years now, but they are very shy so perhaps we just didn’t see them before.  I’ve only seen them twice in years past, as I said.  Since they are shy I don’t have any good pictures of them.  The second we approach any window they are gone.  But our hummingbirds are very brave this year.  I can walk right up to the window where the feeder hangs about six inches away and the birds will just sit there.  They seem fearless.  And we have one that is the largest one I have ever seen visit our yard.  This past week we had a little bit of rain. First it started off here as a mist, then the drops came, but it was a very gentle rain.  Oh my, you should have heard and seen the yard.  There were so many birds it in.  They seemed so happy.  They were just jumping around from place to place.  It was a nice sight to see.  I love that we have so much entertainment in our yard.

The new visitors are orioles.  There seems to be at least four.  There are two brightly colored ones and to “dingy” ones.  They barely look yellow.  One of the dingy ones has a bad leg.  I say that because as she perches on anything there is something that hangs down.  And she doesn’t perch well.  She rocks on the feeders unless she is situated just right.  When she is on one of our towers she hunkers down on it.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoAt first they knocked the yellow flower out of the hummingbird feeder.  But once we saw them feeding on the hummingbird feeders we removed a flower from each feeder.

I think the new birds might be affecting our hummingbird population in regards to how many we get visiting the feeders in our yard.  But that is ok.  They need to eat too.

This is why I recently posted Outside Yoga – Easier Said Than Done  because we have so much bird activity.  I get distracted.  Birds are fascinating.  The blue jays rarely just pick a nut.  They will land and pick up a nut, then put it down.  Then pick up another nut, then put it down.  It looks sometimes as if they are shaking it, but I am not sure.  Then they will pick up another one and put it down.  I’ve seen one bird do that a dozen times.  I am so curious as to why.  I have my ideas as to why, but I would love so much for them to be able to tell me.

The collage with the orioles makes me squint because of the out of focus, faded pictures where the oriole has his back to the camera.  They are that way because I was taking it far from a way and through a dirty window and through a screen.  The orioles are very skittish.  The blurry photo where his coloring is bright was from very far away and as soon as he noticed me he was gone.  The one of the oriole in the tree, that is the less-than-brightly-colored female.

The mourning dove has been trying to get to that feeder for days now.  And I say “trying to get” because I have never seen it IN the feeder.  It flies up to the top of it and that is as far as we have seen it get.  But perhaps when we are not looking it actually makes it to the bottom to get the seed.  Tonight my husband and I watched its progress.  The mourning doves are skittish, too, but I think her having won such a hard battle she was not going to just fly away.

Our yard is small, but we are blessed with visiting birds.  What’s in your yard?  Do you have a flower garden?  Do you have a vegetable garden?  Do you have birds that visit?

Posted in Birds, Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Hummingbirds In Our Yard

Posted by terrepruitt on June 25, 2009

I love to watch our hummingbirds.  I have always wanted to try to film them.  I know it is almost impossible given our equipment and our yard, but I thought I would try.  Yes, I know I posted hummingbird pictures on my last “whatever” Thursday, but remember, my blog, my rules—and a lot of people seemed to enjoy the hummingbirds–maybe it was the tongue.

I think this is getting to be their kind of weather.  I am going to warn you, you will probably see a lot of them on my blog—hopefully you’ll come back.  They are so entertaining.  And as I always say since we are in San Jose we have them for a long period of time.  It just works out that way with our wonderful weather.

So I was outside for about an hour and a half.  I shot about 100 videos.  Most of them were just a few seconds long because that is how fast the hummingbirds are.  A lot of them are clear, a lot of them are not.  Our camera auto focuses and it has a difficult time with moving feeders. 

My goal was to post a short video of a hummingbird flying and maybe feeding.  Well, just as it was getting too dark to film—and the shots started getting grainy—I got this really long sequence of birds eating, flying, fighting, and just all around being the entertaining birds that they are.  So I apologize that it is over 5 minutes long.  Also, I apologize because I am talking throughout the video, but they actually smack each other.  And they do it audibly.  You might not be able to hear it on the video but I could hear it.  And they would do it right over my head! 

At one point, around 3.28 you’ll hear “wrrrrr” that is a bird flying over me and the microphone. 

Posted in Birds | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »