Figuring Things Out

Sometimes the moment to capture a scene is a now or never kind of deal. This was one of those. August 30, 2011, I was recovering from surgery, sitting on the back porch at the river. This first-summer male had been flying up to this feeder, and then flying away, several times. (If you look closely, you can see his few red gorget feathers at the base of his neck.) He didn't drink, just flew up and then left. Finally, he managed to get his beak into the feeder, then very slowly, his tail curled around until his feet were on the feeder, where he held on while he drank. Once he managed to hook onto the yellow cage, he became very good at it. The first couple of times were in slow motion, but with practice, he got better. I would have liked to have taken these without the screen in the way, but If I were on the other side, he probably wouldn't have cooperated. 

Several people on our road had feeders up, so it was a busy summer that year. I was the only one who spent so much time watching and interacting with them, though. It seemed like a waste to let such an opportunity pass by with them right outside the house. I'm glad I took the time. ©photos/content/pegyates 2012

More River Experiences

It was a good summer on the river, although I can't believe how different my interaction is with RTs now compared to a few years ago. The photos of Henry were from 2011, this group is 2010.  This was the first RT that showed up, a male. And he very quickly became the owner of the two feeders that were on the river side of the house. A huge mulberry tree was near by, and he never seemed to stray very far from it. The females that  had begun nesting and needed a steady supply of nectar were challenged to get to drink without being run off by him.

I placed one in the holly bush outside the kitchen window on the other side of the house, and he finally migrated around there, and wasn't able to cover all the feeders on two sides of the house, so the females were able to eat more without him interfering. 

He spent a lot of time grooming himself, napping and generally just hanging out. Males have no involvement in incubating or feeding the young, so after he had his flings, he was not too busy. He never fed while I held the feeder either, but spent time at a few other feeders besides mine, and the females were pretty good at knowing when to show up. ©photos/content pegyates/2012