Farm Friend Friday: Hummingbirds

Dozens of hummingbirds at a time visit our feeders

One of the animals we consider family on our farm is the humminbird. Black Chins and Ruby Throats begin showing up in early March. I put out a couple of quart sized syrup feeders for them. We use a 1 sugar : 4 water ratio and we don't heat it as it becomes too time consuming as the weeks advance.

 They don't seem to mind my presence

In April the males are flying their daredevil J dances, taking nosedives zzzzzzz zzzzzzz zzzzz to impress the right girl. I have seen a perched female with her head going up and down, back and forth as if she were watching a tennis match.

As mating season begins, the females start coming to my office window to remove spiderwebs which they use to bind the lichen together to form their nests. They will lay only two small eggs in these tiny nests no bigger than a golf ball. Once the ladies begin sitting on nests activity at the feeders will suddenly decrease by half; after the babies are born in the summer it will greatly increase again.

 One of the nests I discovered a couple years ago, photographed without a zoom lens

Over the years I've taken part in many area hummingbird banding projects. What we've learned is that these birds are very territorial, that the same birds will patronize the same feeder on the same day each year. Birds at one feeder are likely related. As the different families have grown, so has my need for lager feeders. Currently they are consuming two gallons a day! I've also had occasion to rescue a few.

This bird got stuck in the grape jelly set out for the Oriole, was cleaned and released

Tired of filling quart feeders 2-3 times a day, I recently decided to hang chicken waterers to make my life easier. These have been ideal. They are inexpensive, unbreakable, easily cleaned, and red. I just measure four cups of sugar and fill the rest with water. The generous lip allows for a couple dozen birds to feed simultaneously.

Throughout my life wild (and domestic) animals have trusted me, but I do seem to have a special relationship with these birds. Here are a couple videos I hope you'll watch and know you will enjoy. The first one Farmer Rick took of me hanging the feeder. Amazingly they even land on my hands. The second one I took holding the camera in front of my face, so you can experience what I do when I feed them. Be sure to have the sound turned up on that one to hear their chirps and the whirring of their wings!

I even enjoy painting them.

For more animals friends, be sure to visit Farm Friend Friday!

Nature's stamp of approval

 Beautiful stained glass lobby window portraying the Alamo

Last week Farmer Rick and I had the pleasure of attending the largest music educator conference in San Antonio, Texas and hearing the Swingle Singers perform. I remember hearing them on the radio when I was growing up in the 1960's, and was delighted to know the a capella vocal octet--now with much younger members--was still around.

Their performance was probably one of the top one’s we’ve ever heard (and we’ve been to a lot of concerts). If you want to hear what eight people can do with their voices (including making all the instrument and percussion sounds in addition to complex harmony) check out this music video.



As usual, we stayed at one of the participating conference hotels downtown, which are usually nice but generic. We had no idea the one we were booked at had formerly been the opulent Alamo National Bank.

 Every inch of the building had elegant detail seldom seen in architecture today

It was 25 degrees which is very unusual for this city. Sadly, many of the mature tropical landscape plants along the Riverwalk had been killed by the extended Arctic temperatures.

The Flowerweaver bundled up!

During one of the business meetings I decided to escape to photograph the Convention Center’s plaza—one of my favorite landscapes created by humans—to share with you. It connects up with the famous Riverwalk.

Not only is it a delight to the eye, and a pleasure to experience with all the gurgling and rushing sounds of water, but the attention to detail and craftsmanship is incredible.

Entrance to the plaza

You see, all these ‘rocks’ are hollow concrete forms that perfectly mimic the limestone—both the solid bedrock and the permeable conglomerate—of the Texas Hill Country where we live. It’s like faux bois only faux stone.

 Human-made creek of faux stone in the plaza

 Whoever designed and created this has spent a lot of time in the area where we live!

 Plaza waterfall--click to biggify!

This time I discovered two white egrets hanging out there! (If I hadn’t seen them land I might have thought they were faux birds). That says a lot when you can design something so natural as to attract this kind of wildlife to a Convention Center.

Egrets at home in this urban landscape...

unfazed by the passing river taxis

Looking back at the Convention Center

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all cities had public spaces this close to Nature?

Sunday Stills: Best Shot of 2010

Happy New Year friends! One of the best shots of the year was recently taken by my husband of me holding our first grandchild, Lily. I love how angelic she looks!

Here are some of the best shots I took in 2010. I'll leave it up to you to choose the best one!

Thanks Ed for hosting this fun challenge, I'll try to participate more this year. For more Best Shots of 2010 visit Sunday Stills. Wishing everyone a fabulous 2011!

Yellow bird

This little bird knocked itself out on my office window this morning coming to the seed feeder, presumably. Fortunately I made it to the bird before Cody, the teddy-bear eared backyard dog who would've seen it as a protein supplement.

After a few minutes of nurturing in my hand it regained consciousness and flew off. I am thinking it is a juvenile of some kind of vireo or warbler, but I will ask some of my expert birding friends for an ID. It has an unbroken white eyering, no prominent white bars on the wings, is small, with olive on the top and yellow below. If you think you might know, do tell.

Since I already have a rooster temporarily in the house--who we've named Orville by the way (to go with our Ameraucana hen Kitty Hawk)--I'm relieved not to have a wild charge at the moment. This is the best kind of rescue, where the happy ending comes quickly!

UPDATE:
My friend and birding photographer Larry Ditto, has kindly identified it as a Mourning Warbler in fall plumage. You can see his fabulous photos here. Thanks, Larry!

Sunday Stills: In a Jam !

Farmer Rick has been recuperating nicely from his surgery, and the pathology report confirmed that the cancer was removed with a safe margin, so no other treatment will be necessary. This is a huge relief to us! Last week I was his substitute, teaching music and theater to 200 kids on top of my own private students and doing both our farm chores! I will continue doing this until he feels well enough to return, hopefully sometime next week.

For this week's Sunday Stills, Ed gave us a 'potluck' choice on the imagery for the challenge, and, of course, something presented itself first thing this morning. (And, it also makes up for my absence in last week's Hands challenge!)

I found this female hummingbird quite literally stuck in a jam--the grape jelly that goes on the new Oriole feeder for our orange feathered friends!

You can see all the breast feathers she left behind trying to wiggle out of the stuff. Poor thing, probably spent the night stuck in the jam. She was weakened and shivering when I found her, almost limp in my hand. After a rinse off and towel dry at the kitchen sink, I knew she needed some food right away. I have helped with several hummingbird banding projects locally, and my job has always been to feed and release them, so I'm a pro at this part! Fill 'er up!

The other hummingbirds didn't seem to mind. Maybe they even understood I was helping out.

Thank you for my new feeder, and removing whatever that was stuck in my grape jelly!

No problem, really.

The Hooded Oriole pair showed up about two days ago and I had their feeder waiting. The last two years I modified a regular hummingbird feeder to fit their beaks. This was taken right after extracting the little hummer.

For more potluck images visit Sunday Stills!

Macro Monday: Earrings for a friend

I'm almost ready (finally!) to launch my Etsy.com shop. Life certainly has had a way of interfering. I'm off to the big city for a few days to get some dental work done from a 'chewing accident' and taking these earrings I made as a gift to a friend who wanted something in turquoise.

For more macro imagery, visit Macro Monday!

Macro Monday: Bird Button #3

Thanks for all the kind (and funny!) comments last week regarding the baking of my camera. It certainly was one of those 'gotta laugh to keep from crying' incidences, of which there seem to be many around here. After a cozy night by the fire I am happy to report that Camera is back to normal. Let's just hope none of you will ever need the recipe!

I am not sure what draws me to birds, but there has always been an undeniable connection of the heart. I love bird imagery almost as much, and buttons are easy to collect. The subtle, tinted patina on this one is sublime!

When I was a child my Ruthenian grandmother sent me a pet canary. As I grew up it was followed by a long line of parakeets I hand tamed and dearly loved. As a younger woman I briefly owned a sun conure which terrorized visitors and my other pets, and sadly has been the only animal I've ever had to give away. I did not realize parrots bonded with you like a mate and were extremely jealous of all other beings.

For nearly a decade I organized a national nature festival with a very large birding component. As a botanist I don't own fancy binoculars or keep a life list (too competitive) although I am aware of what birds I've seen and haven't yet seen. I don't travel to exotic places just to add their numbers. Instead I keenly observe those around me and learn their songs, feed them and watch them build their nests in my trees. I would probably photograph them if I had the right lenses.

Still, they figure predominantly in all my artistic endeavors: hand painted scarves, paintings, jewelry, even the advertisements I design for my clients. And, of course, there is my love of chickens!

For more up close and personal views from around the world visit Macro Monday!

Macro Monday: Recipe: How to Bake a Camera

To my absolute horror--the nightmare on Ranch Road--this morning I discovered I'd left the camera outside overnight, and--in this land of so little rain--it had rained! (Guess the bets are off on which part of my body will conk out first!) I brought it in, toweled it dry, changed the batteries and took this picture. Let's call this one BO (Before Oven). Looks like a macro of a cloud.

I was crushed! How would I ever explain to Farmer Rick--now that I have gutted our main bathroom and uncovered unsightly, secret, chaotically wired chambers--I would rather have another camera instead and just finish the bathroom project in, say, 2011? That would only be a tiny inconvenience, right? Right? No, that would never do. Not when I'm the one always harping about follow through, like I had it tattooed across my...well you get the picture, no pun intended.

So, I googled 'what to do if your camera got left out in the rain', and I came across someone who said they actually baked their Canon Rebel (I can hear many of you cringing right now) and it was raised like Lazarus from the dead and it has continued working. I decided to give it a try. Even though my oven couldn't go as low as 120 degrees, I set it at my lowest of 170 degrees and baked it (without batteries or memory card) for 20 minutes with the door slightly ajar.

This way, I could at least peek in and see if it was melting. I would hate to have to explain to Farmer Rick how we suddenly needed BOTH a new camera and new oven! I'd really feel like Lucille Ball then. It got hot, way too hot to handle but held its shape. So I let it cool to room temperature. After replacing the batteries and card, here's the first picture.

For AF (After Oven) isn't this amazing? There's still a bunch of moisture under the digital screen of the viewfinder, but I'm hoping I can remove that with a little time in a plastic ziplock baggie and some silica gel. Or maybe it will need to bake longer.

Anyway, here's another vintage bird button and a maple leaf to go along with the recipe!

For more up close and personal images, visit Macro Monday!

Postscript: After a cozy evening spent by the fire with my camera (wish I could have captured this happy photo), and a night sealed in a plastic baggie with all the silica gel packages I could find from shoe boxes, and some Rainsorb thrown in, the last bit of moisture I was seeing in the display screen has completely disappeared! Whew!

Macro Monday: Bird Button

My latest whimsy is collecting antique bird, insect, and flower buttons. I'm hoping to incorporate them into my jewelry making, or at least use them for inspiration. I am in the early phase of appreciating them without knowing much about their history.

For more up close photos visit Macro Monday!

All Our Ducks in a Row

Today, when we woke up all our ducks were in a row!

Farmer Rick and I have much to be thankful for--we've made it through another year together including our better foibles in chicken husbandry and accidental gardening, and our worse drought in history. His love did not waver even when I persisted on having curved walls in the new coop, and admits his carpentry skills improved with my nagging encouragement.

Nor did he admonish me for the outrageous debt we incurred from me having to take rabies shots after being bitten by the fox. Yea, he understands and supports my need to rescue critters, stick fingers into their wild mouths and to nurse them back to health. He loves my cooking--even when I forget that I am cooking and serve dinner a la charra y el carbon.

I have come to enjoy being awakened at 4 a.m. when he begins playing Chopin etudes and Joplin rags, mistaking my back for the piano in his deep slumber, and have begun to see it as a new way to get a jump on my busy day. I look the other way when he consumes all the household pickles, and gleefully cap the toothpaste and shampoo after him, because secretly I think I got the better end of this deal. He assures me we are equally fortunate!

People tell us we were made for each other. Indeed, we are cut from the same recycled cloth, quilted together by the poets, nobility, explorers, and farmers of our ancestry, having since discovered an 8th great-grandmother and 21st great-grandfather in common. When we cross the creek, neither of us can remember what we went there for.

Honey?

Uh hum?

Look, all our ducks are in a row! How cute!

But...we don't have any ducks!

Oh...You're right!



Y'all better go home!

Second Silver Project

My second project was actually a combination of silver, brass, and copper.


I did not start with the finished bracelet design in mind, it just developed as I worked. I knew I wanted it to have a nature theme with birds and flowers, and a few inspirational words. Letter punches were used to create the words.

The shapes were hand cut. Then most of the textures were created with hammers and brought out with various patinas.

No heat touched the metal. Elements were layered and joined with cold connections, namely various types of rivets. This means that some of them are free to rotate in motion, making the piece even more interesting.

The finished elements were then assembled with jump rings and a copper toggle clasp I also made. The bracelet has a nice weight and feel. I'm planning to do a series of these, along with pendants and earrings for my Etsy shop launch.

Moonwalking

Several years ago my birding colleague Bob B. sent me this funny YouTube video. I've been thinking about it in light of this week's news. It's hard to believe Michael Jackson did not invent the Moonwalk, but he certainly mesmerized us with it. Isn't nature wonderful?

A Photo About Loss

Had a good cry this morning seeing Teddy's empty apartment while feeding the sheep. I'm in a funk. I know she was frustrated by her physical limitations and now she is free.

A tiny kitten appeared in the carport when I got back from the vet's as if there was a vacancy sign. Maybe I can train it to eat the field mice in the pumpkin patch so I don't attract any more foxes.

This is a photo I took of Crow Poison, Nothoscordum bivalve, and altered through digital manipulation. I turned the white flowers black to show how I will miss Teddy Bird's presence.

Speaking of crows, I read an interesting article yesterday about how a UK study proved crows rival chimpanzees in their intelligence. Although these birds in the wild don't make tools, the captive crows were taught to use them in order to get their food, and when the tools were taken away, developed their own tools to do the same tasks.

Not only do animals have the capacity for love and life enjoyment, they are also a lot smarter than given credit.

Birder, who me?

This part of the Hill Country is known for its abundance of birds, both resident and migratory, some even endangered. Birding this area requires field guides to both the Eastern and Western U.S. as many species overlap on my sliver of the world.

I suspect this is due to having the headwaters of many of the state's rivers originating within a few miles of our farm, the incredible diversity of terrain, and one of the longest county rosters of endemic plants (and there certainly are a lot of counties in Texas). Diversity begets diversity.

I know I post a lot about birds, but I'm not a birder, OK? By training, I am a botanist. There are many advantages. Studying plants does not require getting up at the crack of dawn, owning an optical bigger than a hand lens, or keeping a competitive "life list". Plants do not move around--you can usually count on them being in the same place tomorrow or next year.

As the years pass, I have to describe myself as a botanist (and a gardener) very interested in birds and butterflies. It's impossible to look past a beautiful butterfly or interesting bird to study a flower: they are all interrelated.

This week, there were two exciting bird observations at the homestead. First, I had just read in Sibley's field guide to birds that male hummingbirds do acrobatic airshow patterns to attract their mates, and the very next day I witnessed my first one. From the short grass prairie overlook to the creek, this little, determined fellow did several swoops back and forth, starting above the majestic live oaks and diving toward the limestone ledge and soaring to the other side above the trees.

Since then, I've noticed several of these performances each day. Some hummers make a "J" pattern. Each display is accompanied by a particular whirring sound. I realized that this has been going on around me all along, and I just had not been observant to what was causing the sound before now. I find that it is easier to bird by ear, even though I am a visual person. It helps me know what I'm looking for in the tree or bush.

The second observation was a male Hooded Oriole at the hummingbird feeder. I heard a ka-thunk and looked up from my computer work, and there he was trying to disassemble the feeder to get to the sugar water. I decided to help by unscrewing the top plate to reveal an open reservoir of nectar. Soon he and his girlfriend were taking turns drinking from the sweet fount and entertaining me with their antics. (Too bad our windows have screens as they blur the photography, although we appreciated their ability to keep out mosquitoes). These photos were taken a couple of feet away.

Before they land, they sing a couple of bittersweet notes, followed by some squawky chatter that seems to tell the hummingbirds to clear the deck, they're coming in for a landing. Ka-thunk! I've learned his song, and can now find him wherever he is on the property. This morning he woke us up tapping on the feeder and scolding because the feeder was dry.

I don't want to admit I'm a birder. No, I'm just a botanist willing to get up early on a weekend morning to make sugar water.

Birdlets

Here are the adorable baby wrens to the right of our front door the day before they fledged. I was able to take this photograph about four inches away while the momma scolded me. I have given up growing plants in this decorative metal hanging envelope planter as Nature sees it more useful for raising birds.

The momma bird built and used it last year, then took off for the summer. A large wolf spider moved in. By fall, the spider was gone and the wren was back. She spent the winter sleeping in it, head first. It is right under our porch light, so we could see her breathing in slumber.

As the nights began to warm in early spring, she took to sleeping in the pecan tree. We were able to use her to forecast the occasional nightly freeze--on those nights she was back in the nest as soon as the setting sun hit the trees. How is it that Nature innately knows what we must build machines to tell us? Living in the country I have begun to relearn what people have forgotten by living in cities.

We knew she was setting eggs when she started sleeping with her head facing out. She gave us an inconvenienced look every time we passed in and out, so we tried not to make eye contact. Complete strangers at the door, however, would be surprised when she escaped within inches of their faces. That's pretty neat that she knows and trusts us.