Being on the San Pedro River, Down By The River B and B is visited by many bird species. Birding on the San Pedro is some of the best in the USA. There are also the resident birds that stay around all year. We are also an area that is a nursery for Black-Chinned Hummingbirds and we feed a lot of them with the feeders that are hung out at Down By The River B and B. We have other types of hummingbirds that visit us during the year, including Anna’s, Magnificent, Rufous, and Caliopie. Just this morning we had a subadult Caliopie here at the feeder while I was talking with a guest and I wish I had my camera since if flashed so much color in the sunlight. It seems to be a little late in the season for hummingbirds to still be around but maybe these birds decided to stay instead of flying south.We made a video on Hummingbird Breakfast at the B & B and it is fun to watch the jockeying for position by these little birds.
But every once in a while, along with the bats, a sneaky Pete woodpecker has to put his beak into the nectar. We have Ladderback Woodpeckers and also Gila Woodpeckers in the area. Both of these birds are brazen and
Gila Woodpecker landing on feeder
will fly up to the hummingbird feeders and clamp their feet to the feeder. They are usually grab the edge of the feeder and hang below. With a little work they get into their position so that they can dip their beak into the nectar. Watching them do the gyration to get to the nectar is amusing.
The hummers will come to the feeder and see the woodpecker. They buzz around a little bit but soon decide that they don’t want to take on the bigger bird. The leave to find one of the other feeders we have on the patio. We shoo the woodpecker away and he gives a squawk at us as he leaves. He doesn’t go far. He will wait in a tree and after a bit he is back at the feeder.
Gila Woodpecker Getting Into Position To Have A Drink Of Nectar.
Gila Woodpecker Getting A Drink Of Nectar
One of our neighbors in St. David has a picture of bats at the feeder. It is on our facebook page if you would like to see it. If you go to our facebook page, LIKE us and comment if you wish. If you don’t have a facebook page you won’t be able to see this picture.
I have seen a swirling motion outside the dining room window when I went to lock up and turn the lights for the night. I was curious to see what was going on and went to the window. I saw a group of bats and as I watched the bats swirled around the feeder, hit the bottle and flew down to catch the nectar as it came out the holes. It was a really eerie thing to watch. We were wondering why our feeders would be drained in the morning. Now we know. If you have drained feeders in the morning you might want to check out the feeders at night to see if you have flying visitors.
