Tag Archives: hummingbirds

Hornworms & a Female Hummingbird

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Hornworms are sphinx moth (hawk moth) caterpillars.
It’s a big beautiful moth. Dark in color and I’ve only seen them in the evening.
Below is a photo I took back in 2017.
mmm. Now that I look through photos in the search engines, I’m not sure this is a sphinx or hawk moth. It was a huge moth though and a pollinator. What kind do you think it is?
The sphinx moth is a pollinator and as is with our gardening methods we left the last 2 tomato plants for the nursery of their Hornworms.
There was originally 3 Hornworms left on the plants and then just these 2.
Then there was just 1 caterpillar and it ran out of cherry tomatoes, so I started feeding it store bought cherry tomatoes. It enjoyed them for a few days and then it disappeared. I figure it left to go into it’s pupae state. I hope that the 3 caterpillars, we let mature, mutate into some healthy pollinators next Spring.
One evening I was washing dishes and saw a wee female hummingbird land on the tomato cage near the last caterpillar. I took a photo through the glass and screen and so the quality isn’t great. However, the size comparison is unsettling. The caterpillar is almost as big as the hummingbird. Just think how dreadful it would be if the caterpillar wasn’t a vegan. 😉

Wishing you all a pleasant weekend!

 

 

 

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WildLife Wednesday – The Guilt Feeder

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We decided not to hang hummingbird feeders up this year. Then, the other day, whilst we sat on the back porch enjoying a nice early evening breeze, a female Ruby Throated hummingbird flew in and hovered in the exact spot that we hung the feeders in years past.
Seeing the angelic beauty searching for food, made us feel guilty that we hadn’t hung a feeder out yet. So, we went in the house and got the feeder out of storage. My husband fixed a batch of sugar water and then filled the feeder. We went outside and he hung it up. It didn’t take the hummingbird but a few minutes to be on it feeding.
In the following days, there were more hummers visiting the feeders. They buzz and chitter and tease each other. They’re such fun to watch. It’s also fun to see how the feeder looks at different angles; the first photo is my view sitting on the porch looking up at the sky, this second feeder photo is my view of the same feeder from my kitchen window.

Wishing you all an angelic Wednesday!

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humfeed

*hummingbird animation ©joysofcreating

 

 

 

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Tired Little Hummingbird

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Yesterday evening I noticed a little male hummingbird sitting very still on our hummingbird feeder. Every few minutes he’d take a sip and then sit still again. He stayed on the feeder for over 30 minutes. We worried he was sick or hurt. Thankfully when the sun set he flew away and seemed to be in fine health. We figure the little guy may have gotten exhausted from the heat of the day and needed to feed and rest to build his energy back up.
He sure was a cutie.

I hope you all have a pleasant weekend.

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