- Jan 04 9:00 pm
#34646
I spent some Birding time at QE Park recently, walking around, up and down and around and around. I didn't enter the dome as my equipment was too large.
However, on the second morning while walking around the dome, I spotted an Anna's Hummingbird lifting off the geodesic structure. It quickly zipped out of my sight. It occurred to me that there must be some heat emanating from the dome and this may help the Hummingbirds endure the cold nights.
Later that day I was lurking near the tennis courts looking for Pine Grosbeaks when I heard some Red-breasted Nuthatches tooting. I looked around a spotted a couple of them flitting about. I turned on my sound device and played their call, knowing that hearing such sounds would get their interest and that they would fly over to me to investigate.
However, that is not what happened.
Instead I suddenly started to notice Anna's Hummingbirds zipping about. They all came from the same tree, some sort of Tamarack. Indeed some Nuthatches did come my way, but they were immediately set upon by the Hummingbirds.
My best guess is that there were around 10 Hummingbirds in that tree. Moreover, instead of chasing one another, they seemed to be acting coooperatively to chase off any encroaching Nuthatches.
In fact, twice an Anna's zipped right by my head as the Nuthatch call was still emanating from my sound device. I think they were seeking the source of the call on a search and destroy mission.
Luckily for me, in order to spot the Nuthatches (there were also around 10 of them), the Anna's had to land to scan the tree's branches for the invaders. Such landings allowed me to take many photos. I also noticed on several occasions an Anna's would stick out its tongue. Not certain why they do this, but suspect they are augmenting their smelling sense.
My sound device is set to turn off after two minutes. After it turned off, the Nuthatches drifted away and the Hummingbirds disappeared, presumably back into the Tamarack tree.
Some photos follow illustrating the Anna's scanning the tree for Nuthatches. The last photo is larger and shows the tongue of one. Need many many tongues for a Hummingbird tongue pie...
I guess that's Birdwatching....
The tongue.
However, on the second morning while walking around the dome, I spotted an Anna's Hummingbird lifting off the geodesic structure. It quickly zipped out of my sight. It occurred to me that there must be some heat emanating from the dome and this may help the Hummingbirds endure the cold nights.
Later that day I was lurking near the tennis courts looking for Pine Grosbeaks when I heard some Red-breasted Nuthatches tooting. I looked around a spotted a couple of them flitting about. I turned on my sound device and played their call, knowing that hearing such sounds would get their interest and that they would fly over to me to investigate.
However, that is not what happened.
Instead I suddenly started to notice Anna's Hummingbirds zipping about. They all came from the same tree, some sort of Tamarack. Indeed some Nuthatches did come my way, but they were immediately set upon by the Hummingbirds.
My best guess is that there were around 10 Hummingbirds in that tree. Moreover, instead of chasing one another, they seemed to be acting coooperatively to chase off any encroaching Nuthatches.
In fact, twice an Anna's zipped right by my head as the Nuthatch call was still emanating from my sound device. I think they were seeking the source of the call on a search and destroy mission.
Luckily for me, in order to spot the Nuthatches (there were also around 10 of them), the Anna's had to land to scan the tree's branches for the invaders. Such landings allowed me to take many photos. I also noticed on several occasions an Anna's would stick out its tongue. Not certain why they do this, but suspect they are augmenting their smelling sense.
My sound device is set to turn off after two minutes. After it turned off, the Nuthatches drifted away and the Hummingbirds disappeared, presumably back into the Tamarack tree.
Some photos follow illustrating the Anna's scanning the tree for Nuthatches. The last photo is larger and shows the tongue of one. Need many many tongues for a Hummingbird tongue pie...
I guess that's Birdwatching....
The tongue.
- By GMcD
- By stumblingpiper