Nesting Owls and Bathing Hummingbirds

One of the great things about living in our particular little area of the southwest is seeing the creatures who share this space with us. We have the usual bees, sparrows, crows and skunks that you find most anywhere, but we also have some different animals who visit us occasionally.
Several years ago a pair of Great Horned Owls made a nest in the top of one of our pecan trees. Once we noticed the nest, the area surrounding that tree was declared off limits. No mowing near their nest and no noisy farm equipment allowed. We observed from a respectful distance. Imagine how excited we were when babies were born and started popping their little heads over the top of the nest where we could see them. We managed to take a few photos without getting too close.

During the summer months there are several types of hummingbirds that migrate through our area. They stop here to refuel on nectar from our flowers and sugared water from our feeders. They’re fascinating to watch when they zoom in and out of the feeder area. Sometimes, if you stand very still near the feeder, they will come quite close.

Last year on one of our hottest days I was watering the flowers when a hummingbird zipped down to hover under the spray then zipped back up to sit on a branch. He (or she) did this several times until I slowly moved the water over to the tree where he sat under it for a minute until I turned back to the flowers. I guess you could say I gave a hummingbird a bath. It was amazing!

Thank you for reading about our bird “neighbors”. We’ll add more stories and photos as they occur, so stay tuned.