Hummers are a frequent subject on these birdy BB's.

In anticipation of returning to the central California coast in mid-March,
Rufous Hummingbirds should be pouring through by then. The 4-perch feeder is
often packed with 8-12 at a time, and all the smaller ones are constantly
busy and need refilling daily.

At Point Piedras Blancas, San Luis Obispo Co., there will probably be at
least two (pair) of Anna's nesting in late March and April, then by May,
there will be several (pairs) of Allen's, with Anna's mostly gone. I put
'pairs' in (parantheses) because I NEVER see any males of these two species
out on the Point -- no courtship, copulation, nothing. Why??? and where are
they??? Perhaps they just do the 'dirty deed' elsewhere, then scram. I do
find males of both species slightly inland, on the east side of CA rt.1
(anywhere 'east' of the scenic coastal highway, CA rt.1, is 'eastern'
California to me, since I can't seem to ever drag myself away from PB) up and
down the coast, Big Sur and San Simeon, but NEVER out there on the Point.

Nest building, egg laying, hatching, feeding young, and fledging is a
fascinating thing to watch there. The entire nesting scene is conducted
entirely by the females where they nest in the tiny grove of coastal
Monterrey Cypress and pines. There is little in nature that can be so moving
as actually watching a tiny hummingbird hatch from the egg -- kind of tugs at
the soul, compelling me into contemplating my own mortality and the very
meaning of life.

For the past two seasons, there has been an Allen's nesting on the same
branch just outside the computer room window of our living quarters under the
shadow of the PB lighthouse, right at eyelevel, on the tip of a branch only a
few inches from the window. Interesting is once nest building commences, the
first egg is layed long before the nest is complete. The miniature
jellybean-sized egg sits precariously on just a flimsy platform of woven
lichen and seed fluff with seemingly nothing to keep it from rolling or
blowing out. The first time I saw that, I thought it was an accident, a
'practice' egg or something. Then there was a second. As the days passed, I
discovered the nest 'growing' as the female would simultaneously sit on the
nest incubating while at the same time 'weaving' the nest into shape and
eventually forming the conventional cup. Fascinating. I also wondered if
this was the same bird nesting in the same place those two years and if
she'll be back for a third, in '96..

The female alternates through the day, sitting on the nestlings and feeding.
Occasionally, something goes awry with the feeding, bad nector or something,
and a nestling may eject a remarkable stream of vomit, a distance of a foot
or so. She is on the nest at night up to about two weeks or so, before the
young fledge (leave the nest). By then, conditions get pretty crowded in the
nest with the babies alert and looking meaner than snot, just like the
adults. After fledging, the young usually remain around for a week or two
more, gradually weaning away from being fed by the female which may have
already commenced a second laying at another site, and again, without a
single male ever in sight.

The nests both years had to be started from scratch. They don't survive from
one season to the next given the usually damp and windy conditions there. It
in fact amazes me that they can successfully nest there at all during the
spring, especially when the afternoon longshore seabreeze routinely kicks up
to 25-30 knots, generating a brutally cold salt-laced wind chill comparable
to being out on the Aleutians, as the nests bounce up and down on the tips of
flimsy branches. Yet, I've never discovered one go down although I thought
one was about to be lost when it became seriously waterlogged after a rainy
spell, and began to tip precipitously, but they all pulled through just fine.
Allen's Hummingbird is a proven hardy bird out there.

Richard Rowlett <pagodroma at aol.com>
Bellevue, WA, USA