Monday, August 5, 2019

Juvenile Hummingbird Behavior

Young hummingbirds leave the nest full of curiousity and uncertainty. 
They have to figure things out quickly and innocence is short-lived, but their initial hesitation and confusion is easy to spot in the garden.  The hummingbird population in my yard in east Tennessee more than doubled in mid July when the first broods of nestlings left the nest.  A male Ruby-throated hummer dominated the five feeders on the garden side of the house, but he tolerated other hummingbirds in the garden. 
This made juvenile-watching opportunities!  How do you know you are watching a young hummingbird?  Behavior.  Before they become aggressive bombardiers, chasing each other with bad tempers, their behavior is tentative.
Still strengthening their wing muscles, they sometimes perch on stems to find nectar and insects or just to pause and look around.

Which part of this flower has the nectar anyway?
Hummingbird and Coneflowers.  Original watercolor by Vickie Henderson.
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For the Love of It...

...the sage sees heaven reflected in Nature as in a mirror, and he pursues this Art, not for the sake of gold or silver, but for the love of the knowledge which it reveals.
Sendivogius (1750)

Your Uncapped Creativity...

Your Uncapped Creativity...
"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action; and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. You must keep that channel open. It is not for you to determine how good it is, nor how valuable. Nor how it compares with other expressions. It is for you to keep it yours, clearly and directly." ----the great dancer, Martha Graham