We had a great photo hike this morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve. I’m still going through my pictures, so check back tomorrow for those.

This afternoon I looked out the window and saw a hummingbird in the backyard! I yelped “Rich!! Hummer!!” and grabbed the camera. This is our third hummer in the last two months or so, and this was the first time that I actually managed to get a picture of my little visitor. (There were two Painted Buntings in the yard at the same time – it was a very good afternoon!)

Mum-mum read on the Florida Hummingbird Forum that if the birds are here after October 15 or so, they aren’t considered migrants anymore. It’s fun to think that we may have hummers that winter in the yard. We saw this hummer come back three times this afternoon, and each afternoon she was on a different plant: my coral porterweed, the Mexican sunflowers, and my Wendy’s Wish salvia (yes, Mum-mum, you can have a cutting!) Carla and Aaron saw the hummer, too! I took a little video…hopefully you can see the little gal despite the low-res size.

If you like hummingbirds, check out the Phoebe Allens nest cam website. Phoebe is an Allen’s hummingbird that regularly nests in a backyard rosebush in California. The homeowners have a webcam that they place near the nest, allowing people to watch Phoebe raise her little broods of hummers. She usually has four to five clutches a year! She’s a busy little birdie. Nesting season should start any day, so watch the webpage for her.