Yesterday was my birthday and I spent last night out with the boys; no, it's not like that, I was out last night with the male Hummingbirds.  It was 8:30 PM when I realized that the males were becoming very territorial, and fighting had ensued between species that have never argued in the Wind River Canyon before; in fact, these four species have never mated and nested together in this Wyoming canyon....ever.  So, I donned my old hat and shirt and headed outside to spend some quality time with the most amazing friends anyone could have.

     At the moment I'm running four Hummingbird feeders around the cabin, and that seems to be plenty to satisfy demand, except at those peak hours when a hummer needs to fatten up before it gets cold at night; yes, it is cold for a bird that can flap it's wings up to 50 times a second!  In the morning, even after going into a kind of hibernation called torpor, they are nearly starving; the morning and evening hours are the busiest around the nectar feeders.

*Nectar: four (4) parts clean water to one (1) part pure white sugar (no substitutes).  If you go through the amount of sugar I do than all you need to do is shake.  If your home-made nectar sits in the feeder longer than a few days, then by all means heat the stuff up to "clean" the mixture.  Refrigerate any leftover nectar and please keep the feeders clean, but you don't need to over do it, they do live in the real world; soaping and a good rinse is enough thank you.  I have read recent data that suggests that a 35% mixture will keep the more dominant male Hummingbirds protecting their food source even more, and my work with the Hummingbirds seems to confirm this....so don't be so cheap, make it with a little more sugar, it's good for them and your soul.

    As I was standing very near the feeder on the north side; a foot and a half (yes, only 18 inches away!) I had all four species of male Hummingbirds in the Wind River Canyon coming to fill up!  To witness these beautiful birds so close up that you can feel the wind they create with their wings, is nothing short of magical.  The male Broad-tailed Hummingbird, with his sports car red Gorget (his shiny throat feathers remember) was trying to dominate this feeder; they're slightly bigger than the other three species.  As hard as he tried it was a manic job he had taken on so late in the evening.  Each time he chased a Rufous or Black-chinned or Calliope Hummingbird away, Callliope Hummingbird, "In Flight" - Wind River Canyon, WYHummingbirds of the Wind River Canyon, Wyoming another would come in to feed while he was away, and then it started all over again; it's always crazy fun.  As close as these hummers come to my face and ears, at times I feel their wings on my face, there has never been any fear that there'll be an accident.  Remember, they are Mother Nature's greatest high-speed flyers; they know what they're doing.

     My heartbeat races when I'm experiencing these Hummingbird spectacles, but not anywhere near as fast as a Hummingbird's heart beats; a Blue-throated Hummingbird's heart beat was measured at an astonishing 1,240 beats per minute!  But when a very small Calliope male Hummingbird kept coming within twelve inches from my face to look me in the eye (over and over), I knew that this was a bird I'd known before, because they find you and their favorite places by pattern recognition, so they'll come right up to you to take a look.  These truly are the most magical of moments we've ever experienced in the wilds of the canyon.

    A Hummingbird will take a crazy 150 breaths per minute, and beat their wings up to an eye-popping 50 times per second! yet you can photograph them with tons of patience, but please don't use any flash; the kids and Grandma don't like it, and guess what? Hummingbirds don't like flash in their eyes either.

     I wanted to add this last little bit of wisdom to this week's blog; after fifteen years of working with the Hummingbirds of the Wind River Canyon it still takes a sharp eye, and some wit to identify the species of the female Hummingbirds.  I can tell them apart if I'm concentrating, you can tell by the smell of my camera sensor melting @ 8 frames per second.