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Wednesday, February 8, 2023

The little builder

  

In between appointments in Santa Rosa today, I caught a glimpse of a hummingbird flying towards a tree and then disappearing.  At first I wasn't sure where it went, but then I realized something was going on.  The hummingbird wasn't sitting on an exposed branch, but it was hunkered down in a small fork, where it was building a nest!

She kept flying away and returning with different nest materials.  Above, perhaps some fluff from a willow?  Below, a piece of moss:

 
And then she would spend quite a bit of time tucking in the materials:



 
Sometimes she would use her belly and wiggle around to smooth and shape the base of the nest:
 
 

Other times she would pause and sit very still:
 
 
I was very thankful for a visit with this little Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna).  Watching her make her nest made my day!
 

3 comments:

Alice Chan said...

What a lovely series of photos! I'm so glad that you were able to take the time to watch this little bird go about her nest-building business. Thank you for sharing this with us.

John W. Wall said...

So cool. It must be tempting to quickly make some more appointments in Santa Rosa. :)

Jackie Sones said...

:) That made me laugh. While I was watching this hummingbird, the question did cross my mind re: when I might be returning to that location. And I admit, it's tempting to return to watch her progress...but I could skip the doctor's appointments! (No offense to the doctors, it's just that dealing with medical issues and the healthcare system isn't much fun.)

:) Jackie