9/3/10 I think it’s safe to say that fledging is very near. At this point there’s no chance for either chick to “fall” out of the nest. If one loses a toe hold in this now very tight nest, it will easily fly away. Am also hoping that when they fledge and before you “fledge” from watching you’ll think about supporting the cam and everything associated with it at Starr Ranch. Any help is really appreciated. Thanks. Pete
7/26/10 Cam back to 1st nest. On 7/25 I happened to check and there was one egg. Still is. And when I just moved cam back to this nest and went to look on the monitor if it was aligned, she came in. So who knows? This could be round 3. Pete
6/15/10 (Refers to 2nd nest:)The current nest is new. I think built a little over 2 weeks ago approximately 4′ south of the 1st nest. Could be same female, could be diff. I think she’s been incubating about 2 weeks. There were definitely two eggs about 10 days ago. Pete
5/8/10 There are definitely two tiny chicks hatched – nest was mirrored this afternoon. I will mirror it at 8AM PST tomorrow, Sunday. So if you want a glimpse of these little guys, tune in then. Pete
4/22/10 Second egg seen around 10AM. Though don’t know exactly when it was laid.
4/21/10 There’s one egg as of this morning. I forgot to check this afternoon, but given how tight she seems to be sitting as of this evening she could have laid second egg and incubation has begun. Will check tomorrow AM when she takes off for a stretch/feeding.
4/17/10 As some have seen, she’s back and fixing up nest. As of 4/16, no eggs. I will keep checking and let you know when she lays. Reminder: this cam times out in 15 minutes – you need to reload the page to get the video feed restarted. I’ve seen some posts about problems some have had with the video, All I can say is I check it the same way all of you get it and have found no problems. So it might be your browser or internet connection.
Thanks for tuning in and please consider supporting the cam - it cost real dollars to keep it available to all of you. Thanks, Pete DeSimone
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So cute!!! Can’t wait for the eggs. Looks like she is getting close today. We saw her this morning about 9:50 a.m.
This is fantastic.
I finally saw her..for about 3 seconds..Do I see eggs in there?
Oh i finally got to see her, what a cutie. I hope our hummers arrive soon!
Ohhh how sweet. I got to see her bring in a bit of fluff, put it in the bottom of the nest, then proceed to stomp all around the nest, packing it in, wiggling her breast and her bottom to get the right shape. One little bit was pressing into her, so she took her bill and pushed it out a litttle. Then proceeded to stomp her feet round and round the bottom of the nest.
Thank you for this cam. We also have black chins and last year I had over 30 at any given time feeding on our feeders. My husband called them flying pigs. I filled 8 feeders every day trying to keep up with them.
She’s so beautiful!
A friend just told me about this cam today, and I love it!!! I\’ve always loved hummingbirds, and feed them every year in my yard. Thanks so much for this cam!
Pete
RE: ants
Yes it was this nest, the only one I watched last year. Hopefully I won’t see it happen again this year, but if I do, I’ll post.
I have been watching raptors, and this is a wonderful contrast, needless to say. Thanks for this great cam!
Oh my goodness, she is so cute.
Flies in with a little piece of what looked like a really thin wood chip. Pushes it in the nest wall. Sits and wiggles as if trying to stretch out the nest bowl.
Then flies off again.
Amazing. One little fragment of material at a time.
Cam is now set to provide 10 minutes instead of 5. Just do me a favor and close your browser if you stop watching before it times out. Every sec we do this saves $. TX PD
We’re still waiting for the Ruby Throated Hummers to arrive back in Indiana, so i’ll just be tickled to see a hummingbird.
BTW, this cam is not infrared and there’s no sound.
Not infrared because nothing much to watch when it get’s dark except female incubating or brooding or, later, chicks just sitting there thru night.
No sound because there’s nothing much to hear and it’s pretty close to human activity at Starr Ranch. Re the latter, the mics I use are so sensitive they’d compromise staff privacy… PD
Keep in mind female has a few more days of nest building before she lays. I’ll try to post some pics taken with a mirror into nest when she does. Then it’s about 20 days of incubation and 20 days until fledging – they don’t waste any time!
Didn’t notice ants last year. Glynette – are you sure it was at this nest?
Will also jack up view time to 10 minutes. But pls keep in mind that whether it’s 5 min, 10 min. or longer, every minute costs me $ to provide. Pls consider a contribution if you haven’t already. TX PD.
The cam is about dark now, and empty. Mom must be roosting nearby.
My hummers are zipping about on their last flights of the night, drinking out of my neighbors feeder, and getting some final sips from my aloe flower stalks.
Wow, this is so cool…thank you!
watched this amazing cam last year too
just wish we could maybe just have..umm..10 minutes?
\
5 gpes by too fast!
anyway thank you very much!
I watched this site last year as well and all I can say is what a treat it is! This is something you won’t come across very often! Nature at it’s best for sure!
I watched this cam last year. Such a treat to watch the chicks grow! The nest will expand upward as the chicks need more room. A sad sight last year, the nest was crawling with large ants and the chicks were jumping around furiously. I couldn\’t stand to check the nest for 2 days. I finally checked and everything was fine. I thought surely the nest would have been empty.
Wow, she’s beautiful!
I get a lot of Allen’s hummers in my area, and an not sure about Anna’s or black chinned.
Thanks for the new cam!