Please share your photos of nature, wildlife, etc.

Musia · Jul 14, 2021

We visited Ocean yesterday.

Lookinagain · Jul 14, 2021

doberman said:
Regal is a perfect word. I see them all the time in the sky, but it's rare for them to just hang out. I was so excited!

yes, I see them flying overhead too. I think they are all Red Tails. this is the only photo I've ever taken of one. I've never seen one perched anywhere.

Musia · Jul 17, 2021

Saw them on our daily walks

stracci2000 · Jul 17, 2021

I just spotted this mother hummingbird sitting in her nest. She built it under the eave of our gazebo, on the cable support. The nest is balanced on the cable, in mid air. Right above the wind chime!
I used a hand mirror to quickly look into it, and there are two teeny eggs.
This is about 15 feet from our back door. Now we have to tiptoe around the backyard for the foreseeable future!
I hope she can stand the dinging of the chimes, because it is constant.

Daisys and Diamonds · Jul 18, 2021

Seagulls Waiting for our lunch on Thursday down the north mole
That's the south mole in the back ground

YadaYadaYada · Jul 21, 2021

Spotted this one on our way out of the park today.

stracci2000 · Jul 21, 2021

YadaYadaYada said:
Spotted this one on our way out of the park today.

She's ready to run!

YadaYadaYada · Jul 21, 2021

How are your hummingbirds doing @stracci2000?

Lookinagain · Jul 21, 2021

stracci2000 said:
I just spotted this mother hummingbird sitting in her nest. She built it under the eave of our gazebo, on the cable support. The nest is balanced on the cable, in mid air. Right above the wind chime!
I used a hand mirror to quickly look into it, and there are two teeny eggs.
This is about 15 feet from our back door. Now we have to tiptoe around the backyard for the foreseeable future!
I hope she can stand the dinging of the chimes, because it is constant.

This is so neat! Can’t wait to follow their progress.

stracci2000 · Jul 21, 2021

@Lookinagain @YadaYadaYada
Mommy bird is still sitting on the nest.
I check on her throughout the day. A couple of times she left the nest for a while, and I got so worried!
I don't think the babies have hatched yet.
She scares easily, so I haven't been near the nest at all, just watching through the window.

YadaYadaYada · Jul 21, 2021

Aw, they are a little skittish. I’ve only seen one hummingbird in my whole life and I didn’t even realize it at first, I always thought they were bigger than they are @stracci2000

I hope they continue to do well!

stracci2000 · Jul 21, 2021

YadaYadaYada said:
Aw, they are a little skittish. I’ve only seen one hummingbird in my whole life and I didn’t even realize it at first, I always thought they were bigger than they are @stracci2000

I hope they continue to do well!

They are everywhere around here!
We have a feeder, and so does the lady across the street. They zoom back and forth, and sometimes stop to perch on a branch in our tree. They like trumpet vines and yucca flowers, which are common here.
They are tiny and adorable!

Lisa Loves Shiny · Jul 21, 2021

This cutie was busy at the Echinacea patch. We have tons of bees on our milkweed patch too. DH tells me he likes to pet the bumble bees early in the morning when they are sleeping on the buds.

YadaYadaYada · Jul 21, 2021

That’s an awesome picture @Lisa Loves Shiny!

Lookinagain · Jul 21, 2021

stracci2000 said:
They are everywhere around here!
We have a feeder, and so does the lady across the street. They zoom back and forth, and sometimes stop to perch on a branch in our tree. They like trumpet vines and yucca flowers, which are common here.
They are tiny and adorable!

I'm fascinated by them. I have a feeder and only one comes at a time. I had two feeders out at one point and only once did I have one at each feeder. But I do see another come up and it seems that she tells the other one to follow her. Might be a mom and a baby. One is definitely larger than the other. I've only seen males twice and they never stopped to feed. But the females are here all day off and on and when the dog it out they fly up into the tree and wait for him to move away. Here is one of them is sitting in the tree waiting.

stracci2000 · Jul 21, 2021

Lookinagain said:
I'm fascinated by them. I have a feeder and only one comes at a time. I had two feeders out at one point and only once did I have one at each feeder. But I do see another come up and it seems that she tells the other one to follow her. Might be a mom and a baby. One is definitely larger than the other. I've only seen males twice and they never stopped to feed. But the females are here all day off and on and when the dog it out they fly up into the tree and wait for him to move away. Here is one of them is sitting in the tree waiting.

This looks like the one in the nest. She has a light colored throat and belly, and a touch of white above her eye. I think she is called Anna's hummingbird.

Lookinagain · Jul 22, 2021

stracci2000 said:
This looks like the one in the nest. She has a light colored throat and belly, and a touch of white above her eye. I think she is called Anna's hummingbird.

Not sure where you are located but she is a Ruby Throated Hummingbird. Only the males have the Ruby throat. Here’s what they look like (not my photo). They are the only kind that nest in the eastern U.S.

junebug17 · Jul 22, 2021

stracci2000 said:
I just spotted this mother hummingbird sitting in her nest. She built it under the eave of our gazebo, on the cable support. The nest is balanced on the cable, in mid air. Right above the wind chime!
I used a hand mirror to quickly look into it, and there are two teeny eggs.
This is about 15 feet from our back door. Now we have to tiptoe around the backyard for the foreseeable future!
I hope she can stand the dinging of the chimes, because it is constant.

Wow, love this! So cool!

stracci2000 · Jul 22, 2021

Lookinagain said:
Not sure where you are located but she is a Ruby Throated Hummingbird. Only the males have the Ruby throat. Here’s what they look like (not my photo). They are the only kind that nest in the eastern U.S.

I am in Northern New Mexico.
So now I'm back to not knowing what she is!
I don't think I've seen a male with a red neck around here. But there are so many, and they move fast! Maybe I need to pay closer attention when they come to the feeder.

Lookinagain · Jul 22, 2021

stracci2000 said:
I am in Northern New Mexico.
So now I'm back to not knowing what she is!
I don't think I've seen a male with a red neck around here. But there are so many, and they move fast! Maybe I need to pay closer attention when they come to the feeder.

Well maybe she is an Anna's Hummingbird. I looked and your area apparently has many types of Hummingbirds. I think you may find Ruby Throated too, but I don't think they nest there, but migrate through. But I just did a quick google search so that might not be correct. You're very lucky to have so many different types. I'm in Massachusetts and we really only have one kind that is common. There is a second type but rare. I'd love to see more. So many of the females look similar to each other, with so many types in your area, they are probably hard to identify. Good luck and if you figure it out, let us know!

stracci2000 · Jul 22, 2021

Hubby made friends with a small praying mantis today

stracci2000 · Jul 22, 2021

And here in New Mexico we have roadrunners.
They are pretty common, but still fun to see!
And they really do run across the road, as they are not great flyers. They are kinda big, maybe 16-18" long. This one was in our yard, and another on our fence.

Lookinagain · Jul 22, 2021

stracci2000 said:
And here in New Mexico we have roadrunners.
They are pretty common, but still fun to see!
And they really do run across the road, as they are not great flyers. They are kinda big, maybe 16-18" long. This one was in our yard, and another on our fence.

Wow. That’s neat too I won’t see one of those around here.

stracci2000 · Jul 22, 2021

The hummingbirds have hatched!
Mommy is still sitting on them. A few minutes ago I took a chance and ran out there with a hand mirror when she was away from the nest. The nest is about the size of a shot glass
I quickly looked in, and there are two tiny little lumps, instead of eggs. About the size of pinto beans.
I couldn't get a detailed look, because it is kinda dark under the eave. I won't be bothering her again, just one quick look and I'm done. I don't want to upset her at all.
But here she is sitting on the babies. Directly above the wind chime.