Thursday, July 31, 2008

Chippers and Hummers

A high point of the long weekend at Hasty was a visit from Deb at Sand Creek Almanac and her sweet daughter Starflower. I hadn't seen them since last winter when Ruthie and I stopped by for a visit on our way home from the Sax-Zim Bog Festival of Birds. We spent a few hours sipping cool drinks, sitting in the shade and watching the chipmunks and pine siskins at the feeders. The chipmunks were entertaining and full of attitude.
Now you see me...
now you don't...

I was thrilled to finally see a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird stop for a sip.

Eventually the male zipped in!
Before they left we walked down the road to the bridge that crosses Hasty Brook. I got a chance to ask Deb about some wildflowers I'd seen growing along the road and creek. Fire weed, swamp milkweed and joe-pye weed. She even helped me out with the names of some of the fruit-bearing bushes- gray dogwood and service berry!
Thank you for the lupine seeds and for driving up to see Hasty Brook Deb and Starflower. Let's do that bonfire when the cool weather comes in the fall.

14 comments:

Mary said...

Will you look at that squirrel series! Hysterical. Linne, your photos are so beautiful! Glad you are seeing hummers - one of each means more to come!

Must be nice to visit with a blogger.

Thanks for starting my day with a big ole smile :o)

Mary

NatureWoman said...

OMG look at that chipmunk! Great hummingbird captures, too!

Anonymous said...

What great shots of those chipmunks! Now I can see why they can climb the poles so well, just looks at those toes curled around it. That's so cute with the tail sticking out. The hummers are beautiful!

NCmountainwoman said...

Great photos. You even captured the hummingbird's tongue (one of my personal goals). Nice post. Have a great weekend!

troutbirder said...

awesome closeups of the hummers. I enjoyed the turkey story. I am surprised too they have migrated into the north country.
troutbirder

dguzman said...

Great post and pics, Lynne! And serviceberry is always mentioned as a great fruit-bearing tree for birds. Nice work!

Deb said...

Love those photos! Now I want a camera just like yours!

I just checked my work e-mail (I'm taking the day off today!) and I got a response back from Duluth Area Fisheries about Hasty Brook. They actually sampled it last fall by electrofishing, although the water was kind of high, and found 13 species of minnows, some sunfish, bullheads, and bowfin (dogfish). Prairie Lake has good natural reproduction of walleye, and they think Hasty Brook might be one of the main spawning areas. It was stocked with brook trout in the 60's, but I'm guessing water temperatures are a bit on the high side for trout.

Now I can put down 1 hour of "public information" instead of vacation time for today! ;)

Jayne said...

That chipmunk photo is priceless Lynne! Such joy in being able to see other Bloggers IRL. So glad you all had such a good time.

Eve said...

What a little character!!! Love the hummingbird too! I'm so excited for you and your new adventure!

possumlady said...

Very cute chipmunk! I have very similar feeders (notice how I don't say bird feeders) but the top screws into the mesh part so the dang squirrels can't get into it. BUT, they jump on it back and forth enough times for it loosen and fall and spill sunflowers everywhere! My squirrels are VERY well fed, sampling the sunflower seeds, peanuts I put out for the jays and grapes I put out for the catbirds. I have to admit though that it is very cute to see one hopping away with a big grape in its mouth.

I'm very envious of your hummers! I just saw my very first one of the season a few mornings ago.

Leedra said...

Love all of these, but like the first one the best.

RuthieJ said...

So how long did you let that piggy little 'munk stay inside the feeder??
I'm glad the hummers were so cooperative for you and your special visitors too!

Mary C said...

Priceless photos of that chipmunk, Lynne. That would have made a cute and funny video! I'm glad to hear you are seeing hummingbirds. I hope you get to see many more before summer is over.

Marsha said...

What cute photos of the chipmunk. They must be so thrilled when you are there and the feeders are full :-)
Great hummingbird shot too!