Meet "Spike"

PlayboyJoeShmoe

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Shepherd, TX (where dat?)
Spike.jpg


I shall endeavour to get a better pic, but my camera leaves a LOT to desire.

This is Spikes feeder. If any other Hummer comes close, he pounces! :touche:

I plan to get at least one more feeder and probably two!

Anyone else find Hummingbirds kewl?
 

metalhed

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Jan 29, 2004
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Washington State
Yup!!! I love when they 'swoop' down towards the ground while emitting vocalizations...pretty sure it's a mating behaviour.

That's actually one of the few things I'm gonna' miss when we leave California, the hummingbirds. Washington is a little too cold for the little suckers I guess, as I didn't see my first one until I moved here 30 years ago. I don't remember seeing any of them when I was a kid up north.

Believe it or not, quick as they are, one of our cats is fast (and sly) enough to catch 'em. Usually he brings 'em inside for my wife to 'rescue'. It's amazing to see her coax the bird from the cat and then set it free outside...remarkably, most of 'em make it. :)
 

drizzle

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Oct 23, 2003
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Seattle, WA
I see them a few times a year around here and it's always a treat. My parents sometimes have had a feeder out and they had them around pretty regularly then. They are also in the Seattle area.
 

chmsam

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Apr 26, 2004
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3rd Stone
Very cool. Ain't Ma Nature an endless source of interest?

Hummingbirds are very territorial and pretty darn vicious to other hummers. Beautiful to watch but down right nasty in some behaviors. My wife has a thing about birds so I won't put up a feeder, but even so we still get some flying around if the right flowers are in bloom. Sounds like a really, really big bumblebee.
 

tb2776

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We have one that visited the feeder the other day. They are such great aerial acrobats.
 

skalomax

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I know their Heart Beats Extremely Fast and their Wings are Flappes Extremely fast as Well. They are extremely Acrobatic.
 

PlayboyJoeShmoe

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Shepherd, TX (where dat?)
LOL Gee!

Spike is tough man... makes Fonzy look like a wimp! At least twice I've seen him and another hummer locked up and spinning towards the ground. I've read however that they rarely ever really hurt one another!

If the next feeder gets placed correctly, my photography should improve.

Something I never read online however... in a major lightning storm like came through here earlier, where do the birds go?

edit> EEEEK! That is a ROTTEN pic! <edit
 

tvodrd

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Hawthorne, NV
I managed to swat one of them out of the air as a teenager in San Diego. I picked it up and set it in my left hand facing up. It was a beautiful creature with very irridiscent(sp) colleration, and we made eye contact! On a whim I tossed it straight up and it rocketed away. I was much relieved! (The dumb stuff some of us did as teenagers!)

Larry
 

skillet

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Jan 3, 2005
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Green Co. , Bluegrass State
You know, if you'll put a feeder on your porch and stand out there for a few day and move closer to it, they can become accustomed enough to you to land on your finger and drink from the feeder... Takes patience and a tireless arm..

Heres a few photos from the Bluegrass State...

(what do you think the cat wants :) )


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My wife said we needed more catfood.. I told her that's why I bought the bird food.. :devil:


Gordon aka:skillet
 

LowWorm

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Jun 22, 2005
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Salt Lake City
I'm partial to hummingbirds since they are my "birth month" bird. :)

Thanks for the pics! I hardly see any real hummingbirds in person anymore. :(
 

Trashman

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Mar 15, 2005
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Covina, California
How coincidental that this thread should be here. I've been sooo meaning to get a hummingbird feeder, lately. From what I've been told, they really do attract lots of hummingbirds. I'm going to keep it in mind to get one this week. Cool pics!
 

smokinbasser

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Sep 19, 2003
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East Texas
I put up a hummingbird feeder the 1st year I moved to my present location and have seen "gangs" of hummers decend on the feeder and take turns extracting nectar then moving away to let others get some go juice. The diving stunts during mating season get rather violent and you can hear the impact of them hitting in midflight. I have had several that will hover 6 to 12 inches in front of my face as if to say I'm not afraid of you, thanks for the sweet stuff.
Great photos skillet!! Stopping hummers wing beats takes a fast shutter speed and a bit of good luck.
 

MoonRise

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Feb 9, 2004
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NJ
Cool photos Skillet!

ps: The wingbeats were 'mostly' stopped because Skillet used a flash unit in hummingbird photos 1 and 2 with the two humminbirds at the feeder. The quick pulse of light is what stopped the motion of the wings in some of his photos. Compare to his humminbird photo 3 where the hovering/flying humminbird is blurred (no flash used, just ambient light).

Yup, a quick pulse from a xenon flash will help to stop motion blur in a photo.
 

Flying Turtle

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Jan 28, 2003
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Apex, NC
Over the years I've continued to add feeders on different sides of the house. Now there are enough that everyone gets a drink, but it's a pain to keep them filled.

Geoff
 

Planterz

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Dec 14, 2005
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Location
Tucson, AZ
We got my dad a hummingbird feeder, and the day after he put it up, there were at least 3 or 4 birds feeding off of it. Sometimes bats use it at night.
 
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