Spring Time Means Hummingbirds

Rufous Hummingbird and Red Flowering Currant

The other day I discovered a patch of red flowering currant in the village where I live. It's a bush that grows wild in the springtime here. The hummingbirds love it...they have a thing for red tubular flowers, so it fits the bill (so to speak) perfectly for them.

Flying Hummingbird in Spring

The hummingbirds have been coming to our feeders regularly since mid-March. I had a little photo shoot with one the other day...he was quite brave and let me get close. In fact, I'm pretty sure this is the same bird that landed on the hummingbird feeder as I was about to hang it up after refilling it with nectar. He sat down and drank his fill as I held the feeder out at arm's-length. It was a thrill!

Sitting Hummingbird

hummingbird and flowers art

Rare Bird Sighting ~ Costa's Hummingbird

The Costa's Hummingbird is a rare sight on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia...in fact, in 40 years of record-keeping it has never been seen before. But a lone male Costa's has made an appearance in Gibsons, B.C. in none other than the former mayor's yard. Barry Janyk has played host to this gorgeous hummingbird since mid-July.

What's the big deal, you might ask? Well, this particular hummingbird breeds in California's Sonora desert and Arizona's Mojave desert. So he's a long way from home and he's decided to spend time in a coastal rainforest. Strange. Another male Costa's hummingbird has also been spotted in a Vancouver neighbourhood. At first it was believed that these two birds were one and the same however it has since been confirmed that they are two different Costa's.

Barry Janyk graciously allowed me to spend some time on his back deck photographing this tiny (3.5" long) hummer. Although small, this particular hummingbird was incredibly feisty, constantly chasing away a female Anna's hummingbird who was competing for nectar at the same feeder. He kept a fairly constant vigil so the Anna's only got in a few sips of sweet nectar.

The hummingbird had a couple of favourite perches. Here he is on just one of them.

Costa's Hummingbird

It was a rare treat to be able to see this incredible hummingbird with the violet gorget and crown. I hope more of these beauties make their way to the Sunshine Coast!

hummingbird art