IT'S FALL AND OUR BABIES HAVE GROWN AND FLOWN!
Our resident hummingbird, Hannah, laid, hatched and raised 3 healthy hummingbird chicks in our nursery this spring. Hilary, was the first born, see - Its Spring and We're Having Babies. After several agonizing days of waiting, the second egg hatched, giving us hope for the third egg. Naturally, this second little girl bird was named Hope. Finally, much to our delight, Hector, was born. Hector, derived from Spanish, means "tenacious", which the little hummingbird had to be as the smallest and last born of the brood. As spring progessed so did the adventurousness of the little birds. At first they resided only in the nest, and then began venturing short distances away. Before long all four birds were performing aerial acrobatics all over the nursery. We were glad to have lots of tropical flowers to provide them with a delicious smorgasbord of nectars. We enjoyed their antics all summer long, marveling at their speed and agility and thrilled when they would come to rest and let us admire their beautiful, tiny bodies, always poised for flight. In fall, as the weather turned cooler we noticed that they were not sighted as frequently, until one day we realized they had moved on to warmer pastures. Hopefully, after their winter in Central or South American they will remember their oasis in Richmond and come back to visit us again next spring.
Baby Hector - truly "tenacious" and adorable
Mama Hanna demonstrating perfect flight technique to the little ones
Hope, posing for a photo - They knew they "owned" the nursery and kindly allowed us to share it with them
Canna Lilies were Hector's favorite treat
Hilary delicately extracts nectar (look at her adorable little feet)
Hope gets ready to feast on Trumpet Vine flowers
