I just happened to check in on this when reviewing some old posts, and it seems there are already eggs in the nest. So check out ‘Phoebe,’ a returning resident hummingbird (I apologize for the ads – it’s how the server is hosted):
[You also might enjoy this. I’m a bit of an aircraft enthusiast, and as I was writing this post just now I heard a plane coming over incredibly low. I was getting up to see why someone was so close, in this area that sees practically no aviation activity, when I thought to shut off the computer speakers for a second. Yes, it was coming through the hummer cam…]
Anyway, ‘Phoebe’ is a Channel Islands Allen’s hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin sedentarius) that’s been returning to the same nest for years, and the human residents set up a streaming live web cam to observe her nesting behavior. Soon enough, the young will hatch, and the camera is a great way to observe the behavior. Two years ago I was lucky enough to see the fledglings’ first flights, which were quite amusing – it’s one thing to figure out how to take off, and yet another to, as they say, stick the landing. Imagine, if you will, a sudden surge in humming sounds from offscreen, followed by a green blur crashing into the side of the nest and disappearing again…
At this time of year, you may still see her gathering spider webs, which are used for both lining material and structural support. You’re also certainly going to notice that hummingbirds are hyperactive little things, never actually sitting still at all. This does make photographing them a challenge, especially if you want a natural setting and not a feeder in the shot, but there are some tips to be found on my previous post. Last year I got practically nothing worthwhile in the way of hummingbird images, so we’ll have to see what happens when they arrive this year. It’s still a bit too early to be looking here in NC – the nectar would have frozen solid in the feeder last night.
By the way, if you want a screen capture at any time, simply hit the “Print Screen” (PrtScr, upper right) key on your keyboard, open an image editor, create a new file the size of your screen resolution, and hit paste. Crop as needed.
Have fun!