Hey everybody,

Over the weekend I spent a lot of time just watching the antics of the Ruby Throat hummers that buzz all over my yard. I saw a couple things that I had never seen before. The first thing was when a male and female were doing the regular chasing around, but it became much more extended and then they zoomed straight up together, facing one another, with a very upright stance and their heads bent almost at right angles. Courtship stuff, but then the cool part. Another male came in and interrupted them by divebombing the male during his dance. I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the male that got attacked actually attach himself to the side of a telephone pole, like a tiny woodpecker! His wings were perfectly still, and he clung to the vertical surface for about 10 seconds. Very unusual, to me at least.

The next day, I was watching the feeder under an oak tree, which is guarded by the same male. I watched in amazement as he flew to the ground beside the tree. He chose a spot right outside the shade of the tree, at the base of an old mulch pile. He sat on the bark, sunning himself for at least 2-3 minutes until a butterfly flew by and startled him. A few minutes later, he was headed back down twice, until the goldfinches and purple finches started heading in to the feeders. We have had a few days of rainy and (relatively) cooler weather. This was the first sunny day after the rain. The mulch pile gets almost sauna like as it really collects the heat. I just thought it was very cool, that a hummer would voluntarily go to the ground. I had never heard of this?.

Anyway, just thought I would share my observations!

Glenn