January 2010 (Northern Hemisphere)

[maggiepie]

Wonderful to see such colours, Miriam.
I particularly like the Lapeirousia oreogena, the leaves are as beautiful as the flowers.

[Diane Whitehead]

I think dark-centred African flowers like Lapeirousia oreogena attract
beetles as their pollinators.  I guess my aesthetic sense is beetle-like,
as I find black-eyed flowers beautiful.

[Diane Whitehead]

The sun was out today so I ventured forth with my camera.
I lingered near the grevilleas, hoping to photograph a
hummingbird sipping.  I could hear them twittering in various
places, but they stayed hidden, perhaps wary of the bald
eagle circling overhead.

I grow two forms of Grevillea victoriae, native to the Australian
Alps.  The buds are noticeable all summer, and then they open
over a very long period in the winter.

Arbutus unedo is another hummingbird favourite.  I don't
think it has ever fruited for me in the almost 40 years I've had
it, though it always flowers well.  It fruits profusely in California.

The Eranthis is a pale form.  None of my others are up yet.

[ashley]

So your hummingbirds don't migrate south for the winter Diane?  Quite amazing that they can find enough nectar, even in far SW BC where the beautiful grevilleas grow

Any idea why the Arbutus unedo doesn't fruit with you?  Is it the same elsewhere in coastal BC? 

[Ragged Robin]

Diane, it would be wonderful to see the hummingbirds drinking in your garden when the bald headed eagle has made itself scarce 

[Diane Whitehead]

The Rufous Hummingbird is migratory, but the Anna's is resident.

We keep the feeders going all year, and there are winter-flowering
shrubs, none native.  I suspect that human activities - planting exotics
in our gardens, feeding sugar water - has changed the normal
behaviour of the Anna's.  One year one of them decided it was too
much effort to fly down to Mexico, and reported success to the
others when they flew back in the spring, so the next year they all
stuck around for the winter.  No - couldn't have worked like that.
They are not a cooperative genus - very aggressive.  The males
even chase the females away from the feeders.

[maggiepie]

Diane, what a treat to see your Grevilleas, it made me homesick for a minute.
The idea of hummingbirds feeding off the flowers is strange to me after seeing the types of sapsuckers that usually feed off them in Oz.
It must be nice to have so many flowers out at this time of the year, I can see why people love living in that part of Canada.

[cohan]

i dont know whether hummingbirds always stayed on the coast or not, but they do also eat a fair amount of insect food..
when they arrive here in the (late) spring, there probably still isnt much nectar around naturally..

the thought of having flowers outdoors in january is quite shocking...lol

[fermi de Sousa]

That's an excelent specimen of Grevillea victoriae, Diane!
cheers
fermi

[JPB]

Gladiolus illyricus and Thymus longiflorus from SE-Spain. Both growing in my living room under artificial light.

Cheers, Hans

[David Sellars]

This Rufous Hummingbird stopped by our rock garden waterfall for a drink last summer.  I guess they like water as well as nectar.

[cohan]

Gladiolus illyricus and Thymus longiflorus from SE-Spain. Both growing in my living room under artificial light.

Cheers, Hans

good work, hans! these must need some  very strong lights?

[Maggi Young]

This Rufous Hummingbird stopped by our rock garden waterfall for a drink last summer.  I guess they like water as well as nectar.

David, great to see a shot of one actually standing still! I can see the scale of him, too, by the size of the Salix.... and I think those are saxifraga flowers? Lovely!

[maggiepie]

Last night I watched 'Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air', on PBS.
Not sure who made it but if you get the chance to watch it you will be amazed.

[David Sellars]

Well spotted Maggi.  The Sax flowers are from a form of Southside Seedling. We can't get the real thing here.  The photo below shows the Sax Southside Seedling flowers poking out from a rock ledge on the left.  The hummingbird was on the boulder to the right of the Salix. Somehow the bird managed to perch on the sloping boulder with water running over it.  Occasionally it would flutter its wings to re-establish position.