New Hummer

Today there was a new hummer at the feeder and she was here on and off all day long. But boy, she was a nervous little thing. She would hardly light at all, just hovered and flew around nervously. I did manage to get quite a few pictures of her, though. The little immature male did not chase her away at all. He still chased the other males away, but not her. Not sure what all that means, but he didn't bother her. You can just barely see the white in her tail feathers in this picture, but when she spread her tail when she hovered I could see them quite clearly.

I took some pictures today of the little birds drinking out of the ant guard cup that I described in a previous post. But when I uploaded the pictures to my computer, I was shocked to see how green the water was. Those poor birds - I just had not noticed how ugly it was. I was intent on the birds and not the water, I guess. I went right out and cleaned it and put fresh water into it and I discarded the pictures - they were very ugly! Ugh! I think it is so cute when they drink out of that little cup. It is so dainty looking when they do it. I hope to get some good pictures tomorrow - I just could not keep the ones I took today, those were just awful.

I have one feeder that is supposed to be "squirrel-proof" but we all know how that goes. Those little fellas are pretty doggone smart and they are constantly amazing me at how they get into these squirrel-proof feeders. This particular one has an umbrella shaped dome over a round plastic tray. The little birds love it, but if I put the dome down too low, the squirrels can climb right in. If I raise it too high, then the pigeons and starlings and crows get in and I don't want them there; this feeder is for the little birds.

So I have to find a position for the dome that allows the little birds in and keeps the squirrels, pigeons and other large birds out. I thought I had it exactly right. It's been working just fine for a while now. But today a squirrel breached it. And the way he did it just cracked me up. He would slide over the dome, til he fell off, then as he was falling to the ground, he would reach out and grab the tray and pull himself in. It was comical. I mean you gotta love that. Such grace, such skill, such determination.

 

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