Hummingbirds
Categories: Fun & activities
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A few summers ago, we were lucky enough to have a mama hummingbird nest in our yard. She built her tiny little walnut shell sized home on a slender branch just inches away from our glass patio door and only about six feet off the ground. If the kids (and five foot tall me, as well) stood on a chair, they could watch her progress. We saw her make the nest. We saw the two pea-sized eggs she laid, and we saw the chicks just after they hatched. They were SO tiny. We made sure during that entire time that we kept our glass hummingbird feeders clean and full of sugar water (without any red food coloring). We took tons of photos and really appreciated watching this little bit of nature right in our backyard.
We've also got woodpeckers, robins, mourning doves, swallows, forty million squirrels, and the occasional raccoon hanging around. Not bad for the suburbs. What sort of wildlife do you have near your home?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brenda 9-29-2006 @ 12:14PM
Rabbits, lots and lots of rabbits my dog is sooo happy.
We have squirrels, coons, birds, the usual. Last winter we had two foxes, but they moved on. There is rumour of a coyotes. We have bats, I think that is soo cooool!
We also have skunks. One million skunks. No kidding there have been three spotted in our tiny park at one time. I hate it, so sick of dogs getting sprayed.
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Candace 9-29-2006 @ 1:03PM
Rabbits, squirls, chipmunks, snakes, racoons, beavers, deer (one even took a nap once under the playset in the backyard), and a coyote trotted through our backyard at dinnertime a few months ago.
All that and we're 20 minutes from downtown Cincinnati.
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Candace 9-29-2006 @ 1:04PM
Make that "squirrels."
Jeez.
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Lil Liberal 9-29-2006 @ 2:07PM
What wild life is near us? Squirrels, pigeons, waterbugs, little birds of assorted types that gang up on the pigeons to chase them away from food sources, and an assortment of wild rodents that end up in our apartment to be caught in ketch-all live-traps and released somewhere where they can't harass us with their poo. :p
Suburban wildlife is much nicer!
Although I did get to see a huge white heron in the park the other day.. :)
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Ginny 9-29-2006 @ 2:14PM
My 4 YO dd and I just got back from the beach (Florida's Gulf Coast). We saw 5 different kinds of fish; several hermit crabs; a dozen or so Blue Crabs; a sting ray; sea gulls; sand pipers; and pelicans. Now that we are home (we live on a canal) we have seen blue heron...well any sea birds; hawks; owls; wild parakeet; armadillos; raccoons; squirrels; and snakes...but so far, no aligators!
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LS 9-29-2006 @ 3:01PM
We've got the usual assortment of "neighborhood" wildlife: squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks and barn cats, all of which my dog ferociously "guards" our yard from. We have birds - a family of hummingbirds, goldfinch, four different breeds of sparrow (European, Song, Chipping, and Rufus-crowned), nuthatches, TONS of barn swallows (they live in... our barn!), and Downy & Red-headed woodpeckers. Predator birds: Turkey vultures, various hawks (redtail, roughleg, cooper, kestral), and the bald eagles are just starting to show up, as they tend to come to our region during fall and early winter. Occasionally, we'll see wild turkey and pheasant, but that's more while we're out wandering closer to the woodlands. We also have a few fox snakes living under our porches.
The larger animals are domestic - horses, ponies, mules and cows - but we also have plenty of white-tail deer... and a couple of albino white-tails, which are very cool.
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ann adams 9-29-2006 @ 3:15PM
We're in the city limits so it's mainly a variety of birds including hummers of course, squirrels, rabbits, the the occasional raccoon, opossum, or skunk. Do feral cats count? We're covered up in them.
Oh and lots of cranes in the canals.
And let's not forget the strangest of all, the two legged variety.
We drive five miles and we're in the country with horses, pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, bison, llamas and poultry.
A few more miles and the woods have bobcats, deer, etc. Maybe even a bear from time to time as the city encroaches on the wilderness.
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