Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival is a Great Success!

Knoxville's Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival was a big hit again this year with more than a thousand visitors attending.  Visitors were treated to hummingbird banding, heard educational speakers, watched wildlife demonstrations, and enjoyed vendors with plants, nature related arts and crafts, and, of course, food!

Mark Armstrong, Knoxville's Master Hummingbird bander was assisted by a team from the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society (KTOS) and visitors were able to see hummingbirds expertly banded, measured, and weighed, and each bird released safely back into the wild.

Photo credit:  Billie Cantwell

While Mark was banding hummingbirds, other visitors enjoyed wildlife demonstrations, including parrots, a non-releaseable ground hog and other mammals, and a lovely female American Kestrel exhibited by Stephen Lyn Bales of Ijams.

I abandoned my art exhibit twice to listen to speakers, including David Unger of Maryville College on "The Good Wolf", a presentation that included the myths surrounding the public's fear of wolves and a very interesting report on the beneficial impact of reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone National Park.  Scientists found far more benefit to the ecosystem than they expected.

Biologist David Pitts, below, shared his fascinating study on Ruby-throated hummingbird nesting and the female hummingbird's amazing nesting behavior which has never before been documented.

You probably know by now that female hummingbirds do all the nest building and rearing of young.  They often nest more than one time in a season.  But did you know that they may be laying eggs in one nest while still feeding young in another? Amazingly busy creatures!  More about this interesting lecture in a later blog post.

The festival was packed with vendors including nature crafts, art and photography, plants for your hummingbird garden, and a variety of other nature related vendors including hummingbird feeders, hummingbird swings, and other aids to help your enjoyment of birds.

  Below, Tom Howe, of KTOS, helps a young visitor look through binoculars.

And Cyndi Routledge, below, shows off a Tawny Emperor that rests on her finger.  There were a number of these butterflies around the nature center grounds and visitors had fun viewing them as they landed to feed on salt and minerals.

Stephany Porco, a self-described "butterfly geek", was more than happy to receive the butterfly from Cyndi and study it more closely.

Below, my exhibit table at the festival with watercolor prints, note cards and festival logo mugs (now my favorite coffee mug!)    

It was fun to see my art walking around the festival on logo T-shirts worn by all the KTOS volunteers.  The shirts were also sold to visitors to raise funds for the non-profit organization's conservation projects. 
Below, the beautiful logo banner that welcomed visitors to the festival.  You can find prints and note cards of this watercolor on my website at the following link:  Vickie Henderson Art.

The festival was co-sponsored by the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society and Ijams Nature Center.  KTOS is a non-profit organization that promotes the enjoyment, scientific study and conservation of birds.  Ijams Nature Center seeks to increase knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the natural world by providing quality environmental education and nature related experiences.

Links and resources:
More about hummingbird banding and hummingbirds on this blog
To see a discussion of this painting in process:  Hummingbird Studies
More on hummingbird art
Ruby-throated hummingbirds

The Hummingbird Days of Summer

This has become one of my favorite times of year.  Not necessarily September's weather, but because a wonderful mob of hummers is passing through.

Just about any morning I have the opportunity, you will find me sitting on the patio, coffee in hand, sometimes camera, with hummingbirds all around me as I watch the interactions at the feeders.  And the juvenile antics add a big plus to the pleasure.  Just a day ago, I looked out the window before going out and found one juvenile perched on the top of the feeder he was guarding, and another one perched on the shepherd's hook with the feeder he guarded hanging below him.  And today, I noticed two adult males feeding at the same time on one feeder.  It's fascinating to know that subtle hummer communication made that possible, when otherwise, they would be embattled.

Unlike the northeast, we have needed rain badly in east Tennessee.  So this evening when a storm moved in, I sat out under the shelter of the deck, enjoying its approach. Our temperature had reached 97 F, the humidity making that feel like 100 degrees of suffocating air.  The storm blew in packing 30-40 mph winds with gusts up to 60 mph and within an hour the temps had plummeted to the low 70's.  A welcomed change.  As the wind picked up, I watched as several hummers tried to reach the feeders by flying into a headwind.  It pushed them backward.  This was not easy to watch.  But their quick adjustment was heartening.  After several attempts, they would adjust direction, sometimes moving to a different feeder to get a better angle or a different wind effect.  As soon as the wind slumped, it seemed like hummers were falling out of the sky, and not peacefully either.  They arrived again with full attitude until the gusts picked up again. Amazing creatures!

And my favorite moment of all this week happened when I was just standing in the right place at the right time.  A petite little female landed on the feeder right in front of me.  She was so close I could have reached out and touched her.  I didn't move, just stood there watching her, in awe of her beauty.

A special moment in the hummingbird days of summer.

Links and resources:

For more information about hummingbirds and their migration click this link to my posts on Ruby-throated hummingbirds.  And to see more of my hummingbird art, visit my bird gallery.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Migration

I'm stuck on hummingbirds right now.  They are so entertaining that I can't get enough of watching them.  I have a ring-side seat right in front of the nectar feeders--four of them--and the birds don't seems to mind. With this intimate view, I see lots of interesting behaviors.  

Like juveniles 'flight-wrestling'.  With tails fanned, their bodies in vertical positions, they circle each other,  moving up and down until one of them finally dominates.  On three separate occasions while watching these maneuvers, I've seen both birds hit the ground.  I'm never fast enough to capture it with my camera, but my jaw drops every time.  And I think to myself, they're practicing, preparation for survival on their wintering grounds, and they're exercising, getting stronger, becoming more skilled in flight maneuvers and quickness.  That just stirs my heart.  

And I'm always intrigued when I see shifts in the feeder dominance.  For example, when three white-throated birds settle on a  single feeder together almost at the same time, with no dispute at all.  Is this just three seriously thirsty hummingbirds, a group of timid juveniles, or maybe my resident female with her fledglings?  I did manage to capture the fledgling you see above, who perched for a long time and drank without interruption.  It made me wonder if I had been seeing the parent female among the quarreling birds, quickly intervening when others flew in.  If you look closely at the image (click to enlarge), you can see the fledgling's gape.  His mouth is slightly open.

Above, Ruby-throated hummingbird male

And then there are the times that I see two males settle on the feeder together.  Wow, I think, a couple of no-nonsense travelers with no time to quarrel.  Below you'll see a series of images of a male perched as a juvenile joins him on the feeder, another fun moment.   After watching the loud buzzing and high-speed dives of some of the males who perform these maneuvers from high oak limbs, watching a juvenile settle beside a male on the nectar feeder feels like a sweet moment even if the motivations are far from it.

Eventually, it had to end.  They always seem to depart with a burst of aggression.

New visitors to the feeders seem to come in waves.  I can tell when they are perched on limbs overhead waiting to advance by the continuous chirps from the guards, which today at times, numbered five.  In an instant, those waiting seem to descend all at once.  The more aggressive birds give chase and while they are gone, a quick glance at the feeders reveals other hummers have quietly slipped to the feeders to drink.

For more images and stories about this year's Ruby-throated hummingbirds, visit Delightful Hummingbird Fledglings, Hummer Smiles and Surprises, and Peak Hummingbird Viewing Days.  To read more about how banding hummingbirds is helping us to discover many new things about their migration, visit Hummingbird Banding.  You might also enjoy seeing my sketch of a Downy Woodpecker and a hummer at the feeder together.  They actually did drink from the feeder at the same time.

For more resources and information about hummingbirds, visit The Hummer/Bird Study Group.

Delightful Hummingbird Fledglings

I've been having morning coffee on the patio with the hummingbirds just as often as possible.  The frequent thunder storms we've had lately have boosted nectar feeder activity even more.  This morning I saw two males drinking at one feeder at the same time.  A little later, a family with wing-twittering fledglings arrived.  It could be the same family that visited previously, but its impossible to know.  Either way, I'm happy!

It is apparent when a mom with fledglings arrives.  They drink together initially and she sets herself apart by vigorously challenging any other hummer that approaches while the youngsters drink.    

The normal vocals, buzzing and diving from the three males who've staked out the feeders quiets for a short while.      

It's as though the nectar feeders are momentarily off-limits, each of the males sitting motionless on their perches, accepting the family without interference.  Eventually Mom buzzes the youngsters.  Chirping, she fans her tail and hovers, as if to say, lets go.  They circle for an instant, then off they fly into the higher canopy.  Sigh.

One of nature's many smiles.    

For more hummer sketches visit my post on hummingbird banding and don't miss another fun surprise at the feeders!

Phoebe Allens--Incubating now!

Phoebe Allens is a female Allen's Hummingbird who lives in the Channel Islands, in Orange County, California. Her nest is located in a rose bush right next to a house and she is incubating two eggs that are expected to hatch any time now. You can see it happening right on your computer screen!Yesterday I was so taken with her--watching her wiggle to settle on the eggs, hearing her zip off for a few minutes at a time, seeing her constant vigilance, even her eye blink--that I sketched her while I watched. And I couldn't help but marvel at her life. I've known for a while that hummingbird females are the sole nest builder, incubator and caregiver of the young, but the impact of that knowledge is even greater when you see such a tiny bird actually in the midst of these labors. Yesterday I saw her bring materials to add to her nest on one of those quick flights away. And if the cam should be down, there are wonderful clips to watch, like Phoebe harrassing her juveniles of a previous year, trying to entice them to fledge. And another one that shows her laying an egg!

Phoebe's eggs are due to hatch anytime now. Historically they have begun hatching at day 17 and this is day 14. Don't miss seeing her upclose at: http://cam.dellwo.com/

She is a real treat!

Jan 20th update: Both of Phoebe's eggs hatched January 19th, one before daylight, the other later during a very stormy day. When you view the cam now, you get the added treat of seeing tiny newly hatched nestlings during the brief times she leaves the nest!