Jo's Morning Walk: New Year Brings a New Visitor

It's January 2020 and the birding in my yard has been wonderful. What made this new year super special is that I had just hung the new hummingbird feeder on my kitchen window hoping to get a nice close-up look through my window. First few days went by with no hummers coming to drink from the new feeder. After the third day I noticed that there were a few quick visits by a female Allen's Hummingbird and a beautiful male Anna's Hummer. However, on the fourth day, I got a super special visitor at my window feeder that took my breath away! A male Costa's Hummingbird feeding at my new feeder! Here are some photos of this beautiful new visitor.

This is the first time I have seen a Costa's Hummingbird on the coast. This one for some reason came to my new feeder and I am delighted by this new visitor.

Costa's Hummingbird, Calypte costae measures 3.5 inches long with a wingspan of 4.75 inches. Only the male has the purple on his crown and throat. He has white on his chest / neck area. A white patch on his cheeks.

His tail is short and his wingtips project slightly past his tail tip.

A good look at his underside.

A look at the white patch on the side of his cheek and neck area.

The red color is the reflection from the red feeder. He does not have any red coloring on him.

Close-up.

This is how this feeder is attached outside my kitchen window. The stain glass is hung inside slightly away from the window glass. This feeder is the small one sold at the Backyard Bird store in Encinitas. The hanger is rated to hold up to 4 lbs. Just be sure to clean the glass window with alcohol before attaching the hanger.

Looking out from my kitchen window.

A male Anna's Hummingbird makes an appearance at the window feeder.

Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna measures 4 inches long with a wingspan of 5.25 inches.

You can really see the difference between the two hummers.

The Costa's Hummingbird is back. I have noticed that he does not go to any of the other five feeders I have in my yard. The only one he visits is this window feeder. Being one of the smallest of the hummingbirds, this guy seems to not want to have any confrontations with other hummers.

Love, love looking at this little guy.

Close-up.

A look at his short little tail.

He is just so beautiful!

Nice side view of his white patches.

Close-up.

I can't help but think of the best colored Amethyst I have ever seen when I see this beautiful purple color. I have faceted some Amethyst from 4 Peaks Arizona that have flashes of this purple.

I keep hoping to catch him perched in a tree or branch but he flies east out of my yard when he is done feeding and disappears.

Close-up.

See, no red on his chin, only looks like red when the red reflects off the feeder.

Nice look at his back.

In this photo, you can really see that his wings are slightly longer than his tail.

Good side shot of his tiny body. I will be enjoying his visits to the window feeder as long as he stays around. Hope it's for a little while longer.

As I walked out to my garden, I heard the familiar call of Ospreys. Looking up there were two circling above a few blocks away. They appeared to be heading straight towards me. With my camera trained on the big birds I took a few shots that amazed me for their flying skills. I have never seen this upside-down flying where he is flying belly-up. Here are the shots for you to enjoy!