My Little Hummingbird Companion

This year I have been blessed with a little hummingbird who sits (yes, sits!) in the tree between our yard and the neighbour's yard, and sings and sings.  He / she has quite noticeably staked out the territory around and including my yard since about February or so.  Occasionally he / she changes from that favourite perch location, to other trees in my yard, or just outside the fence.

I have been surprised at how much time this little guy / gal spends sitting, singing.  Occasionally buzzing from place to place, and less occasionally chasing another hummingbird.  But then it returns to sit and sing.  I wish I had a video.  But I did take some very poor photos, of its favourite location, as viewed from our patio (and nearby kitchen window) :

See that little dark dot in the top left part of that Albizia julibrissin (Mimosa or Silk tree)?  Here's a closeup :

I'm not sure if its a Rufous or a Ruby-throated hummingbird, but I don't see the bright red throat which would indicate a male, so it seems it may be a female.  But I haven't paid much attention, and haven't tried to get close enough to view it better. 

In previous years, I tried and got some reasonably good photos - see these posts back in 2008 and 2009 - but this year I haven't tried.  Mostly I enjoy listening to it more than looking at it, while I am out toiling in my garden. It is a great little companion for me.

Hummingbirds and Albizia

While on my lunch break today, I was pleased to see the hummingbirds (there are usually 2, chasing each other) in the lower yard, checking out many of the flowers, including the Albizia tree next door.

Our upper neighbours planted an Albizia julibrissia tree (Silk tree, Mimosa tree) near our fence, so I am able to admire it from my kitchen (as always, click for a slightly larger view):

I read that it was brought to North America from Asia in 1745, and that in the Southeast parts of the U.S., it is an invasive species. However, here in the Northwest (Vancouver, BC), it seems to be quite uncommon, and I love its exotic, tropical look. The foliage reminds me of the Mimosa pudica (Sensitive plant), which is a special childhood experience which is not to be missed. The airy pink flowers are strikingly beautiful, appearing to float gently on top of the greenery.

It is a double delight then, when the hummingbirds visit the Albizia. I managed to capture a couple of photos, from my deck:

First Hummingbird Photos of the Season

In my upper yard, I have a hummingbird area which is frequented regularly by hummingbirds, attracted by the shaggy red monarda and a towering butterfly bush, and the safety of a large alder tree behind (outside my property line, on the edge of the ravine).

Tonight after dinner, I decided to try for some hummingbird photos. Since it was the first time this year, it seemed they were a little shy, and kept mostly to the back of the butterfly bush (where I couldn't photograph at all), and within the monarda (where I was moderately successful). Here is a collection of shots from today.



Of all the places to sit, she chose to return to this dead branch of my Ribes odoratum (Missouri currant) a number of times.

Ah, that's better:

I believe it is the Rufous Hummingbird which I usually see, or at least I read that it is a common visitor to this area (Vancouver, BC). I seem to get the females. I don't know if I've ever seen the male, with the red throat. Perhaps an immature one, with some red showing, one year.


Not bad for the first day. I'm encouraged to try for some more another day.

Hummingbird Photos

I was bragging to my Mom the other day, that almost any time I go into the garden, I see a hummingbird. So these are my photos to substantiate my claim. ;-)

We have a "hummingbird corner" in the upper corner of our yard, with dozens of shaggy red monarda flowers, a favourite of hummers (click on any of the photos for a larger image):



When the monarda blooms come to an end, the butterfly bush, which is just starting to bloom, will provide interest for the remainder of the summer. Nearby, there are lots of trees in which the hummers can rest, such as our small cherry tree:

...a medium sized alder tree beyond the fence:

...and a tall alder tree behind our yard:

This is an interesting photo of the hummingbird already turned around, and just about to dart away:

Hummingbird Pics

I am determined to get a few photos of the hummingbirds which are constantly zipping about our garden this year. Since it was overcast today, I took the opportunity to try again. The quality is not good, but here goes anyhow:




The hummingbirds are most often near the Buddleia (butterfly bush) and Monarda in the top corner of the garden, but are also visiting many of the flowers in the garden, including the Crocosmia, Phlox, Lilies, and Fuschia. They chase each other around the yard, and up into the alder trees beyond our fence. They are so fun to watch.

I am really pleased with the Helianthus Giganteus this year, I wish I had a few more. Grows like a weed, as does the other sprout in the photo. :-)

Speaking of our sprout, after talking about wanting a pet every day for I don't know how long, we finally gave in to her request, and got her a hamster 4 days ago. "Hammy" seems to be settling in to the household fairly well. We have started taking him outside in the early evenings, while we clean his cage (I'm sure this daily ritual won't last long!). It is interesting that if we put his cage out, he will stay near it.

But that seems to be true of any large object; we had the same result with an overturned flower pot tonight. If he's in the open, he makes a quick dash for the wall, and runs along it. I am reminded of the time my son and I witnessed a small mouse running out into the street, and a crow swooping out of nowhere, to snatch it up. It is no wonder the hamster is not comfortable out in the open.

Hammy also enjoys my snap peas (just the peas, not the pods), so it gives me an excuse to get out picking them regularly. I had fallen behind in checking on them, since I had a large bag of store-bought snap peas in the fridge for the last week or so to enjoy. I just noticed that my Purple Peacock beans are ready to start picking, and I brought in my first handful last night. It seems only days ago that I had checked, and they were barely in flower. This summer is going by much too quickly for my liking.

To end on a positive note, the dahlias I received from my father-in-law are looking gorgeous again this year. My favourite is these tall (6') pink and white ones. They start out a vibrant pink, and fade almost to white with age. This year again, I didn't stake them early in the season, and it is too awkward to try now (without breaking too many branches), so the plants are flopping forward too much, especially when it rains. But the flowers, I think, are stunning.

Garden Glimpses : Early August 2007

We took advantage of the great weather on the weekend, to visit Bunsen Lake. We were very impressed by our kids, 8 and 6, who very cheerfully walked the trails for 1 hr 15 min to get to the other side of the lake. Then, the 2 hr 15 min of the more gruelling (or perhaps it just felt more challenging since we were already tired on the return journey) longer trail on the other side of the lake. Afterwards, they even had enough energy to go wading in the cold lake!

The barn swallows had several nests on the outside of the building which contains the washrooms. It was fun to see the little heads and open beaks pop up each time a parent approached the nest. One nest contained 4 chicks which looked nearly ready to leave the nest (click any of the photos for a slightly closer view):

I waited for quite a while, trying to snap a shot of them with their mouths open, but the mom (or dad, I guess) darted in and out so quickly, I missed a number of times. Finally, I got the shot I wanted:

On a similar note, almost every time I look, there are 2 or 3, sometimes even 4, hummingbirds darting around our garden, and up into the maple and alder trees beside our property (in the ravine). I have been trying to catch them on camera, but this is the best I've done so far:

Not National Geographic, but any means! I've done a bit better, with the video camera, because that at least picks up the motion, and I got a good close-up of one sitting on the top of my small cherry tree.

Here is a nice shot of the globe thistle with bees in it:

I find it interesting, that each flower has its own following of bees. The globe thistle attracts the smaller honey bees. Many of the others are a magnet for the big fuzzy bumblebees. The lamb's ear was a favourite of what I believe was mason bees, as well as bumblebees.

Can you smell the fragrance of this stargazer? They are so sweet-smelling. I am pleased to have a number of them blooming in the garden at the moment, and catch a whiff of them as I walk through the yard. I have a fond association with the stargazer, since it was my wedding flower. This is a good time of year to buy them in the grocery stores, enjoy the fragrance indoors, then when they are finished flowering, plant them out to enjoy next year. It is about the same price as buying the bulb at the garden center, so this seems a better way to go.

I don't remember if these lilies are fragrant, but I love the rich orange colour, and the freckles on them. My friend Lily gave them to me, the bulbs are apparently a Taiwanese delicacy. But I think they are much too beautiful to consider eating.

I learned something interesting the other day. A few weeks ago, I had deadheaded a number of my hardy geraniums, mainly since I already have enough seedlings to deal with, and the seedheads can look quite messy. On one geranium, I trimmed most of the plant, but was interrupted before I finished completely. Now, weeks later, the part I had trimmed (front), looks green and refreshed, and has even started to flower again, whereas the part I had left in seed (at back), appears yellow and faded (Yes, those are really two parts of the same plant!!):

Finally, it is only the first week of August, which feels like only half way through the summer. But the Virginia Creeper is telling a different story, it has already started to turn red. (It turns a brilliant red in the Fall before losing its leaves for the Winter.)

Could we be so close to Fall? I guess it is only 4 weeks left before the start of school! Much too soon!

First Hummingbird of the Season

I have a long list of projects I am trying to complete this week, so I promised my husband I would not post today... But then I spotted my first hummingbird of the season, darting around my garden, while I watched from the kitchen window, my hands submerged in hot water and dirty dishes which I am catching up from last night.

It paused at a number of shrubs and plants, but did not find any flowers - it is still early yet for many of their favourites. I hope to post on some of the hummingbird favourite flowers from my garden at a later date, such as the shaggy red monarda (bee balm). In the meantime here is a link to a list of flowers and flowering shrubs which are attractive to hummingbirds in the Pacific Northwest.

The photos are of the mosaic stepping stones I bought for my garden, only $6.95 at the Canadian Superstore warehouse. I plan to treat them with tile and grout sealer before placing them in the garden. I don't know how they'll hold up to the weather. They seem to be made from concrete (or perhaps a concrete and resin mix), painted, and grouted. The sticker reads "Made in China". They sure wouldn't be $6.95 if made in Canada!

I would have liked to pick up more stepping stones to give to each of my gardening friends (really!!), but they were so heavy I had a hard time making it to the car with the 4 of them. We'll see if I get back to that store. I don't visit there often, because of the poor or nonexistent service. To save money, I prefer to buy the specials at stores where I am treated with respect.