Hummers and other winged delights
Saturday, 3 September, 2011
Late summer is always an interesting and challenging time for wildlife photography. A large number of species have already left leaving behind those that are able to stay longer because they don’t migrate as far. In the case of the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, the males leave in late July followed by the females and then the juveniles. We have two feeders on the go during the spring summer and fall and noticed that the male RTHU maintains his dominance over the food source vigorously chasing away all intruders. I tried to get a photograph of him far too late this year and when I finally had some time last Sunday, he just fed from the artificial feeders not like our friend in the above photograph. I think getting a picture of a male RTHU in late August is pretty fortunate. Now that the male is gone the others are feasting non-stop at the Weigela, Flox, Jewelweed and the last of the Bee Balm. There are still some pretty interesting aerial battles going on though, probably between the females and the juveniles.
Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Weigela blossoms
A few weeks ago I noticed a fair amount of activity around my feeder and a plain looking juvenile bird that determined to be a Brown-headed Cowbird. I noticed this bird was hanging around the feeder and being tended to by a Song Sparrow. I had always known about the predation of Cowbirds and songbirds but had never witnessed it. It was certainly bizarre to see this small dedicated mother feeding this bird that was twice its size. In the below photo you can see the sparrow’s beak deep in the Cowbirds throat.
During the beginning of August we camped at Port Burwell Provincial Park for the first time. While we were at our campsite, we could hear constant chipping and peeping of what I suspected to be a small songbird. We finally saw a small fluffy bundle of feathers hopping amongst the litter in the forest. Then we saw the mother flying to and fro with food. I set up my camera with the flash since it was late in the day and it was fairly shaded at our site. I was finally able to get some images of the baby and the mother feeding it. It was quite a contrast to what I witnessed a week earlier.
Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Song Sparrow feeding Brown-headed Cowbird juvenile
Female Yellow-rumped Warbler feeding juvenile
