New Orleans Audubon Park
March 6, 2008 – I was in New Orleans shooting photos and happened on Audubon Park at the far end of the Garden District. It’s worth the St. Charles Street Car ride. I saw dozens of Great Egrets nesting, a White Ibis, Black Crowned Night Heron, Wood duck, several dozen turtles and three kinds of butterflies. All in about a 10 minutes on the main park path. 
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Early spring color
March 18, 2008 – Anido, the male hummingbird born in my plum tree last summer wintered over in the garden, with a little help from my hummingbird feeder. I’ve seen him in full color many times over the winter, but never when I had my camera handy. Finally got a good shot today. A few of the early bloomers are starting to open up in the garden so the hummers will have more choices than sugar water.
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Wintering Over
November 13, 2007 – Looks as if Anido, the male who hatched this summer in the yard, has decided to winter over in the garden. I see him quite regularly and hear his squeaky chattering when he wants to make sure I know he’s around. The Cape fuchsia is doing its bit with a few last blooms of the season. But just a few, so I keep the nectar in the feeder fresh — and that meets with Anido’s approval.
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In the neighborhood
August 17, 2007: Haven’t made a post for a while as things in the yard have settled into a routine. I see the mother Anna’s — her call is distinct after listening to it these last months – and the young Anido, whose feathers under his chin are growing red. (This photo is of Anido.) Besides the feeder there are four flowers in bloom they are feeding on now. I see one of them at least every other day. They are a little harder to photograph now, because they have a lot of dining choices and aren’t tethered to the nest. And,well, they are hummingbirds, so they are whip-fast when they want to be.
P.S. A flicker was in the yard today, which after hummingbird-watching was like seeing a 747 next to the Wright Flyer.
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Outta the nest
July 30, 2007: Turns out that one of the fledglings didn’t move very far out of the nest. Next door. I was out in the yard at dusk and saw the mother Anna’s in my yard hunting insects when I saw some movement. And there next door was one of the fledglings zooming around the neighbor’s yard also hunting insects. Much stronger flyer than when last I saw, which is good to see. Sorry no photos.
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Flying solo
July 27, 2007: For the last two days I have only seen the mother Anna’s in the garden. She continues to perch in her usual spots and visits the feeder. Whether she is still attending to the fledglings Anita and Anido I can’t tell. But after feeding she does always fly off in the same direction toward the neighbor’s trees and makes quite a bit of chattering.
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Flying colors
July 25, 2007: Didn’t get to spend much time in the garden today although I have seen the mother Anna’s several times. She did dart into the trees several times but couldn’t see the two little ones.
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Two fledglings
July 24, 2007: Happy to report that today I saw the mother Anna’s feeding both of her fledglings (Anita and Anido). Until today I hadn’t seen the first fledgling at all, as it decided to fledge in a rainstorm and apparently has taking a liking to hiding deep in one of the lilac bushes.
The mother Anna’s has been feeding regularly on the Cape fuchsia in the garden, but they’re going out of bloom so on Saturday I decided to hang a hummingbird feeder in the flowers to make sure she had enough to dine on in the yard. Today I watched her go to the feeder and straight to the one fledgling that I saw fly on Saturday, but then to my surprise after she’d fed that one she flew into the lilac and there, hiding in the shadows, was the first fledgling. Having not seen the first fledgling since Thursday I had been worried, but all three, mother Anna’s and the two siblings, are still calling the garden home, at least for today. I’m sure at some point they will fly off, but it’s nice to enjoy them while they’re here.
P.S. For those who are curious what the “big lens” looks like, Max came over today to see what good use I’ve been putting his lens to and took this photo of me in action.
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How small?
July 22, 2007: Went out into the garden this morning to find the fledgling apparently overnighted in the plum tree. She moved around to the far side of the tree, but by late afternoon was still calling the plum tree home. The mother Anna’s continues to come to the tree to feed the fledgling, and the fledgling is still making short flights from one branch to another.
To give an idea of just how small the nest and the Anna’s hummingbird is I shot a couple of photos today of the nest with a tape measure and then superimposed them at the correct scale onto a photo of the mother and hatchlings. The nest is about 2 1/4 inches across and the mother Anna’s is 3 inches from the top of her head to her tail feathers. The nest could easily fit in the palm of your hand, with room to spare.
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