Oaks Bottom Hummingbird

Hummingbird and Re-Opening Ceremony for the Bluff Trail

Mike Houck gives history of Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge

Last Saturday, March 9, a ceremony was held to officially open the revitalized trail. (See blog on February 16.) Mayor Hales and other dignitaries of Portland were there. Mike Houck paid tribute to Al Miller and others who, over the years, rescued this area and worked to keep it a natural area.

But for me the star of the weekend was a tiny Anna's Hummingbird who was nesting only a couple of hundred feet away from the festivities. Once I found out about it I became totally distracted.

Momma Hummingbird and a precocious baby

Here she is feeding her two young ones. (Only one head popped up.) Her life is a constant cycle repeated about every 15 minutes:
- leave the nest uncovered and race to get food
- return carefully, land a few feet away, watch for predators and then land next to the nest
- push her long beak right down baby's throat and regurgitate food
- repeat for each chick several times,
- finally, sit on the nest to keep babies warm until the next cycle begins.

The hummingbird nests are a masterpiece of camouflage and recycling. 

Nest is the size of a billiard ball and covered in lichen.

For materials she uses lichen from her host tree, some soft fluffy clematis that has gone to seed, all held together with spiderwebs.  The nest may not survive the winter and will dissolve back into the general forest detritus. 

As for camouflage. above is a photo from a slightly different angle. It is harder to see her. And below we see the nest in its true environment from ten feet away. See the nest? it is in the lower right corner of the picture. It is attached to that thicker branch that runs diagonally  from upper left to lower right. It took me five minutes to see it. even with my wife's help.

I took a few pictures on Saturday when there were several people watching. Hummingbirds seem oblivious to humans. We are so pitifully slow and cumbersome in comparison.

Sunday

I returned to get more detailed pictures of the hummingbirds. We also saw this Varied Thrush (below). His song sounds like a whistle, repeated over and over.

Varied Thrush in Oaks Bottom

As we continued to walk on the Bluff Trail below the mausoleum, we encountered a pair of Wood Ducks who were looking for a nest for their eggs. Spring is often the silly season for expectant parents. Wood Ducks look for a hole in the trunk of a tree where the female can lay her eggs. It needs to be secluded and have a safe landing zone. So, here they are looking in trees right above the trail!  They wandered from branch to branch for a while and then flew away.

Female Wood Duck looking for nesting place

Male Wood Duck is said to be one of the most beautiful birds in America.

The day after hatching (within 24 hours) the female will leave the nest and begin calling the young. One by one the hatchlings will climb to the opening and drop to the ground or water and head toward their mother.The female Wood Duck will take the young to water where they instinctively know what to eat. At evening time the female will find shelter for her and the young for the night.They won't return to the nest.

Spring is here in Oaks Bottom!

POSTSCRIPT- 

After sitting and waiting at the hummingbird site for 20 minutes on March 14, we did not see the mother, or any of the babies, so we feared the worst--that a predator had gotten the babies.  But we were fooled!  As the babies get bigger, they do not need to be fed as often, and hide down in the nest while their mother is gone.  Here is a photo from today (March 21) that shows that Mother and babies are just fine.  Babies now have eyes and very fluffy feathers.

 Notice the large snail--or is it just that the nest is so tiny?

Copyright 2013 Tom Nelson

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