Thursday, August 27, 2009

Riding a Goose for Migration?

Okay, I've given two Hummingbird-talks of late, and at each one someone asked if its true that during their long migrations, hummingbirds ride on the backs of geese!

Well, the answer is no, but with photos like this one, one can hardly blame someone for asking such a question! LOL

This photo is by Pat Gaines of Westminster, CO. To see a larger version, click the photo or his name to get to Pat's page on Colorado Birders. At the bottom of his page, is a slide show of his photos...you can watch the show, see the photos all on a few pages or even full screen. This one he called "Bareback" and it shows a kingbird harrassing a Red-tailed Hawk. Wild, huh?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very cool photo. Perhaps the idea stems from the fact that hummers are so small. Few people believe they can fly such amazing distances.

I recall the belief that birds of paradise lay their eggs on the backs of eachother so that they never touch land.

Unknown said...

I was at your Hermosa presentation in Cuchara and was the one who mentioned this site. I just wanted to say HI!
During the summer I live here in Colorado and the rest of the year in Urbana, Illinois, having just moved from Kalamazoo, MI.
I enjoy your words throughout the year.
Lois J. Vostral

Beverly said...

Hey Guy,

I agree; a very cool photo. I hope you got a chance to go check out his page on CoBirders...he's got a bunch of really nice photos! He's quite the accomplished young photographer, I'd say. While this one was clearly 'on the fly'...most of his stuff is quite professional and really interesting!

Hmmmmmmmm...I don't believe I've ever heard that one, about the Birds of Paradise. In fact...I thought those were plants!

LOL

Beverly said...

Hiya Lois! How nice to 'see' you, and thanks a bunch for stopping by! I had such a good time with that presentation; you Hermosa folks are awesome! What a fabulous bunch of people...

You'll have to give me a shout when you arrive next year; you can come 'bird' with me in my back yard. I keep adding more and more berry-producing native plants; I hope to have a real sanctuary one of these days.

Right now, the hummers are slowing down (oh, did you catch my bad math on the 4/1 ration thing? Sheeshhh, so much for copy and paste; ya gotta think too!), though I still have both Evening and Black-headed Grosbeaks visiting. And of course the woodies (both Downy and Hairy), as well as the Chickadees & Nuthatches...well, you know! LOL

Soon I hope to get a post up regarding native plants that provide food for the birds...I took a bunch of pictures from all over my yard a couple weeks ago. But life happens, yanno?

Thanks again for saying HI...you can find my e-mail addy in my 'profile' on the main page, here.

Unknown said...

nice blog.....

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