|
Dunbar Gardens Willow Baskets |
|
|
 |
Dunbar Gardens
Rufous
Hummingbird Nest! |
A Rufous Hummingbird has made and used a nest in
our barn for seven consecutive years in Mount Vernon, Washington. Below is a series of photos from 2006. Photos
by Steve Lospalluto. Please don't reproduce without permission.
See the table below the photos for the dates
from the past seven years and this year's adventure with the abandoned nest.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rufous Hummingbird nest with eggs 5/06/06 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rufous Hummingbird sitting on her new eggs. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hatching Rufous Hummingbirds on 5/22/06. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5/29/06: One week old Rufous Hummingbirds. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6/05/06: Two weeks old Rufous Hummingbirds. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6/10/06: 19 days old. These two will be fledging from the nest in about three days. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6/13/06AM: Getting ready to fly! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6/13/06PM: Mother feeding juvenile in nest the last afternoon. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The following table lists the dates that I observed the first egg laid, the
second egg, the eggs hatching, and the hummingbirds fledging from the nest in
the past seven years.
| year |
first egg |
second egg |
hatch |
fledge |
| 2001 |
|
May 15 |
May 31 |
June 22 |
| 2002 |
|
April9 |
April25 |
May 17 |
| 2003 |
April30 |
May1 |
May 18 |
June 9 |
| 2004 |
|
April 29 |
May 15 |
June 6 |
| 2005 |
March 22 |
March 23 |
April 9 |
April 30 |
| 2006 |
May 4 |
May 6 |
May 22 |
June 13 |
| 2007 |
March 22 |
March 24 |
April 9 |
April 23: nest abandoned* |
*Two nestlings brought to
Sarvey Wildlife Center for care.
Update!: June 10, 2007 :We were excited to see the
Rufous Hummingbird back at the nest again this year for the seventh time.
Unfortunately, we stopped seeing her by April 23. We guess that she abandoned the nest and two nestlings due to mortality. We didn't
want to move the nestlings in case we were mistaken. To our surprise the
nestlings were still alive on April 25, so we decided to give
Sarvey Wildlife Center a call.
Leslie at Sarvey took the two nestlings into her care. By May 5, the two
nestlings were doing well and Leslie had them in a flight cage where the older
one was flying and using the self feeding stations and the younger one was
flying a little. On May 10, we brought the two hummingbirds back to Dunbar
Gardens. The two were able to fly about the yard but we definitely had to play
the role of mother hummingbird and continue to feed them through out the day. We
were feeding the male through May 16 and the female through May 21. We saw them
very few times for a couple of weeks. But this weekend, June 9-10, I have seen
two juvenile birds chasing each other about the farm and yard. I am pretty sure
they are the same ones but they have not shown an interest in getting too close
to me.
I have posted a few photos from our hummingbird adventure. Many
thanks to the "hummingbird lady", Leslie at Sarvey Wildlife Center.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rufous Hummingbirds hatching on April 9, 2007 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
baby Rufous Hummingbirds at Sarvey Wildlife Rescue Center in Arlington, WA on April 29, 2007. photo courtesy of Leslie, the hummingbird caregiver at Sarvey. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Leslie at the Sarvey Wildlife Rescue Center feeding the baby Rufous Hummingbirds on May 4, 2007. photo courtesy of Leslie at Sarvey. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Katherine releasing the two hummingbirds on May 10, 2007 back at 'home' at Dunbar Gardens |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Steve feeds one of the baby hummingbirds on May 10, 2007. photo courtesy of Eddie Gordon. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
juvenile Rufous Hummingbird perched on Katherine's thumb begging for food on May 16, 2007 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
male and female juvenile Rufous Hummingbirds perched together for feeding May 16, 2007 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
female juvenile Rufous Hummingbird May 21, 2007 perched in one of her favorite feeding spots for the last time |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
male juvenile Rufous Hummingird May 26, 2007 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
basket sales
willow
basket gallery basketmaking classes
basketry willow
willow cuttings
basketmaking demos
teachers & friends
links
birds on the farm
home page
Dunbar Gardens / 16586 Dunbar Road
/ Mount Vernon, WA 98273 USA
©2008 Steve
Lospalluto & Katherine Lewis
