It's Thursday the 20th of July and I have just finished
most of the chores so I'm eager to take a drive to Sorrento Valley/Penasquitos Valley to check on
the Black-chinned Hummingbird's nest. It's been about a week now since I
saw Eve's hummer nest and I wondered if the eggs had hatched.
The temperature is rising by the minute. It is about 80
degrees but feels hotter because of the humidity. Grateful that the nest is in
the shade, I walk the short distance from the Lopez Canyon parking lot to check on the nest.
Nothing is taken for granted in nature. Just because the nest was occupied last
week doesn't mean that the hummingbird would still be on the nest. When I reached
the nest site, I was delighted to spot her right where I'd left her!
The female hummer flies to a nearby spider web. She is
collecting spider threads with her beak. She swings her head back and forth as
you would if you were winding yarn.
More spider web collecting.
The female flies back to the nest with spider web stuck
to her breast and beak.
She sticks her spider thread covered chest against the
nest where it adheres nicely to the nest rim.
Now she secures the spider thread that was on her beak
to the outside of the nest wall. All will work like spandex. As her nestlings
grow the walls will stretch out to accommodate their growth.
Adding some final touches. She appears to really be
focused on securing the nest side.
She works with a sense of urgency.
I notice she is sitting quite high in the nest. Wow, I
bet the eggs are piping! I watched for a few hours but she sat on the nest incubating only. She would fly off to feed herself and stretch her wings but I
did not see her in the act of feeding a hatchling today. I will be back tomorrow
to see if there is any change at this nest.
For now, I walk east towards Lopez Canyon. Soon, I come to a place
in the trail that has a cluster of Evening Primrose in bloom. To my surprise, a
beautiful male Allen's Hummingbird comes to feed on the big yellow flowers.
The hummingbird approaches the primrose flower from the
side and pierces the petal of the flower towards the base to reach the nectar as
shown in this close-up.
It's way too hot now and most of the birds are hiding
in the shade. Time to head for home. One last look at the little Black-chinned
Hummingbird incubating her eggs. I will be back tomorrow to see if there are
nestlings at this nest!
Today, Friday, July 21st. 2017. Arriving in Sorrento Valley at the Penasquito trailheads
about 11:00am, I quickly walk to the nest to check on the little hummer. She is
sitting quietly in her nest. Eggs usually hatch between 16 to 18 days. Hoping
today is the day that we see some hatchlings!
As I observe the hummer sitting on her nest, I notice
some movement nearby. It appears to be a newly fledged Song Sparrow but I'm not
sure.
This might be its parent. I believe it is a Song
Sparrow but with extreme molting.
Here is a shot of the California Sycamore tree showing
the fuzz on the underside of the leaves. The Black-chinned Hummingbird are known
for using the fuzz in nest building.
The female Black-chinned hummer had left the nest for
a few minutes but soon returned. This time, she did not settle into the nest as
she did yesterday! Her back was towards me but I could tell that she was
perched on the rim of the nest and starting a feeding. Woo Hoo!! We have
hatchlings!!
I quickly move about six feet to my right to get a better
angle but I do not see the nestlings. All I can see from this angle is her beak
going into the middle of the nest and her movement and action tells me she is in
the process of feeding her hatchling!
I keep shooting and waiting to see the little beaks. They
must be super new and tiny. I see the motion of the mom feeding something at the
bottom of the nest but no visual yet.
She settles very gently into the nest to brood. Baby
hummers are born with no feathers, dark skin and with their eyes closed. They
cannot regulate their body temperature and need their mom to keep them
warm.
Wow, she is being so very careful as she settles into
the nest.
As I watch the hummer brooding at the nest, I spot an
Orange-crowned Warbler looking for insects only about 5 ft away from the
hummer's nest. This is the first female hummer that I have observed that made no
warning clicks when other birds came around her nest. She just sat there very
still and quiet.
Lots of insects to eat.
Found a good meal.
One last shot of the Orange-crowned
Warbler.
What appears to be a very young Hummingbird lands about
10 ft away from the nest site. Could this be a Black-chinned Hummer
too?
Youngsters are hard to ID but I wondered if this
little hummer could be from her first clutch.
Even a Black Phoebe lands nearby but not a peep from
mom Hummer at her nest.
She had been gone a few minutes but is now back and I
notice that she has her back to me again as she begins another feeding.
She is feeding her hatchling. I need to get a better
look so I quickly scoot six feet to my left.
Wow, I finally got a shot of the hatchling. There it is! Mom hummer is feeding it. The hatchling is so small even the beak looks pale
yellow and almost transparent.
She feeds the hatchling by placing her beak into
the mouth and down into the throat to the stomach of the newborn and
she regurgitates nectar and predigested tiny insects. Nature's perfect feeding
tube. The food is an insect nectar smoothie. The feeding is very short because
these babies are so very young and tiny. She will feed the
hatchlings approximately every 20 minutes.
Bingo, I finally get a shot of the
hatchling stretching its neck as it is being fed. What a precious moment.They have a very strong neck and even though their eyes are closed, they know when to open their beaks and beg for food. They can feel the air movement of mom hummer's wings when she comes to the nest.
Closer look at the hatchling being fed.
She is now feeding the second hatchling but it doesn't
show itself. This feeding is very quick.
Mom hummer stops and gets ready to regurgitate again.
See how her neck gets thick. I will be checking on the hatchlings again soon.
It's time for me to start for home. I am feeling so happy and grateful to see
this magical moment at Eve's hummer nest.
Have a super weekend everyone!
