I’ve been taking a little break from flash photography of hummingbirds. Our shy hummingbird has a reason to be ultra-vigilant to danger. She’s a single mama with two hungry mouths to feed.
I came across this tiny nest by accident when I walked too close and startled the mama bird into fluttering away in a panic. It’s amazing to see what a lovely thing she created from spiderwebs, plant down, and lichen. I found I could see the nest from one of our windows, which helped me to time my visits when Mama wasn’t in the nest, since she spent so much time incubating her eggs.
Eventually, Mama Bird’s efforts were rewarded.
After her babies were hatched, Mama Bird still spent a lot of time keeping them warm, but she also had to spend a lot of time finding food for her family. I didn’t want to stress her further by scaring her with the flashes, so I had to rely on natural light.
After foraging for nectar and insects, she finally comes back to the hungry babes.
They are very happy to hear her return. Nine days later, when their eyes are open, they can see her return as well.
Eleven days later, they have grown considerably. The elastic nest has stretched out to accommodate them. Mama is having to spend a lot of time away from the nest to feed these guys now!
Pretty soon they will be as big as Mama and ready to leave the nest. They grow up so fast!
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