P-Hummie ... surveying his domain

In the last week, P-Hummie has become a nearly permanent fixture on my clothesline. Mind you, my clothesline is 15 feet off the ground and is used for birdfeeders, not clothes. (And if you are wondering why it's 15 feet off the ground ... we have black bears here and they love bird food - but they can't reach up 15 feet.) Because of it's height, it provides the perfect vantage point for P to survey - and guard - his domain. When another male ventures to one of the feeders, P comes flying off the clothesline and attacks. When a female comes in to have a much-needed drink, he chases her into a tree and makes her watch his courtship flight. Never mind that all the ladies are on nests right now and not at all interested in P's fancy moves. And, in about 3-4 weeks, he'll be trying to chase all the fledglings away. Poor P - no rest for the little guy.

Hummingbirds are in the minority of birds in that the male does not participate in any aspect of nesting or caring for young. His job is to impregnate the female. After that, he concentrates on fattening up for the fall migration. Yep, he is the original dead-beat dad. Hard to be mad at him, though , isn't it?

My yard is like an avian nursery at the moment. In addition to cardinals and starlings feeding fleglings, this morning a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers showed up with several fledglings in tow. They've been out in the yard all day, carting suet up to the kids to eat. I am pretty sure the red-bellied woodpecker babies have fledged, too, as I see both parents carrying big beaks full of suet up into the big maple tree. What a fun time of year.

On a slightly darker note, when I walked out a little while ago, I flushed a small hawk from the cherry tree - I am sure the sounds of so many babies caught his/her attention. He/she left empty taloned ... and hopefully will find a meal someplace else.

The catbirds and waxwings are still feasting on cherries, and were joined today by one of the chipmunks who bravely navigated the branches and dodged the larger birds to scarf down some cherries.

I posted 7 other shots on Flickr, starting HERE - a couple of chippies, baby cardinal, baby woodpecker, strange bug, and flycatcher.

Thanks for stopping by - your comments and stars are appreciated.

Happy Hump Day!

Debbi