When Hurricane Irene blew into Virginia, she rudely sent the region’s hummingbirds into hiding. But when the coast was clear, they buzzed back for their nectar rush.
Hovering Room Only
September 2, 2011 By
When Hurricane Irene blew into Virginia, she rudely sent the region’s hummingbirds into hiding. But when the coast was clear, they buzzed back for their nectar rush.
YAY Hummingboids!!! A CO fav-O-right!!!
And evidently they somehow managed to remain sheltered throughout that massive system — whew!!!
I have never seen that many humming birds in one place! It’s like a humming bird airport out there!
just what i was thinking. look like big mosquitos..
Like a swarm! I kept hearing “The Flight of the Bumblebee” in my head!
Exactly what I was thinking. Man the mosquitoes in VA are huge!!
Holy hummingbirds Batman. I have never seen so many hummingbirds in one place, ever.
I’ve never seen so many hummingbirds in one place not dive-bombing one another. They can be feisty little critters.
*nods* Ours fight with each other for the five spots at the feeder. Each one insists on feeding alone; won’t let the other two feed at the same time. These must be SO HUNGRY, they’re willing to de-prioritize territoriality for the noms!
I was surprised too–the ones I’ve hosted have been really territorial.
That’s what I’m thinking. O_O We get about seven or eight at a time, at most, and they fight absolutely nonstop. They certainly never share a feeder.
That is what I was thinking. They are such territorial little goomers. I’ve always heard that you are to keep the feeders so many feet apart because of that very reason.
Oh, the hum-manity!
…and can I get a slice of hum-ble pie to go with my nectar? Thanks.
Why?! Why so consistently annoying w/ the ridiculous puns???
Because the rest of us encourage her. GO 260OAKLEY! *waving pompoms*
You’re using quite a broad brush, when painting all CO fans. Your statement would certainly have more truth to it if you exchanged the words “the rest” with “some”.
Okay, how about this:
“Most of the rest of us, except for a few humour-impaired grumpypants.”
Does that work for you, Deb?
We call that “Miss Crankypants”..
What about “statistically, all of us Cuteoverloaders just LOVE 260OAKLEY (those who don’t are such a minor minority, that they can be ignored)”?. Go, 260O and never stop amazing us! <3
Oh, Oakley is female? Weird, for some reason I always thought of her as a “him”.
Yea, and joining in on the Oakley-love bandwagon. Though in light of recent findings, it is pure sisterly love
Why so cranky?
Because a day without Oakley puns is like a day without sunshine !
Besides , She’s SO good at it !!!
amen. that’s the whole thing. she is fabulous…
Oakley, your puns are the best! It’s truly a gift you have, and always makes me smile. In fact, I often go directly to 260Oakley’s comments first, because they’re so fun to read…keep it up girl!!!
Sorry you’ve got your knickers in a twist, dear Diva. I know that can be painful. I’ll give you the same advice my mother used to give my long-suffering brothers: “Just ignore her if she’s bothering you.”
LOLOLOL…love it!!!
Because it’s o-pun season. And we’re gluttons for pun-ishment.
YAY!
Why?! Why so consistently annoying with the hatefulness???
Oakley, ignore this troll. We all love your puns!
Because Oakley is miraculously gifted.
Just to piss you off. Is it working?
hahahahaha nice one
Ah, that’s what I wanted to say!
hahahahahah *claps enthusiastically*
As you can read, dear Diva, we’re quite protective of our 260Oakley. But we would welcome your puns, too.
Diva by name………..
Annoying? Annoying??? WTF planet are you living on?
Yes, we treasure our 260Oakley and all her glorious punnage. So there.
Someone could use a little sip of sugar-water for an attitude adjustment.
Those puns are one of the reasons (apart from the cute of course) that I come here. 260Oakley has a wonderful talent that is to be enjoyed and appreciated.
Can’t believe anyone could complain about 260Oakley’s wit and eruditeness!
I can’t believe it either. I read that and thought to myself: is someone really annoyed by puns? I mean yeah, I know the audience is meant to groan and roll their eyes or react with mock disdain etc… but that’s all part of the meta joke. Now I’m wondering if a person could actually be so humor-impaired that they’d feel compelled to attack someone over a pun. Xp
Oak, I adore your clever wordplay!
Ignore that comment Oakley…those of us who are punnier than the rest enjoy you very much!!!.
I feel so inadequate with my one measly feeder and my three regular hummers. Clearly, I need more feeders!
It depends a lot on what species of hummer you have.
If your males have red on the top of their heads as well as their throats, they’re probably Anna’s Hummingbirds, which tend to be resident. That means you get small numbers of them, but they stay in one place all year round and defend their territory against other hummers.
If your males just have red on their throats and not on the top of their heads, they’re probably Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds, which tend to be migratory. That means you’ll only get them for a limited time each year, but you’ll get large numbers who are more interested in refueling than feuding over territory.
tl;dr – if they’re Ruby-Throats, the more feeders you put out while they’re migrating, the better. If they’re Anna’s, then there’s probably not so much point putting out more feeders, since they won’t attract more birds.
It looks like they need an air traffic controller.
Yup. That is one busy airport.
WOW that’s a lot of hummers! I just so happened to see one little green hummingbird on my patio this week. I was looking out the window to see if i needed to refill the cat food and in swoops a single beryl jewelled winged critter, he hovered for a second, didn’t see anything he liked and then left! First one I’ve ever seen in TN since I moved here 5 years ago from KY.
Oh, we’ve got plenty here in Tennessee. Feed them, and they will come!
Some people have greedy bossy h-birds like we have yellowjackets. Life is just hamazing
I’m sure this’s really what Daphne du Maurier had in mind for her story ‘The Birds’, but Alfred Hitch[malehen] and Tippi Hedren had this crazy idea . . .
‘Well, there must be a storm at sea, that can drive them inland, you know.’ bzzzzzzz zzzzz zzzzz . . .
that was wondrous. add the video of the ear-flapping pup and this was one of the best days on cute overload ever.
agreed.
I wish I could hug those folks with all the feeders ! Those little hummers need to refuel after a catastrophe (for them) like that. Can you imagine being that small & going through something like that? Especially after seeing how bad things are for the larger creatures (like people) Poor little things !
I agree with MudBug. Jewels for their crowns for placing all those feeders out there for the traumatized (and obviously famished) hummers. I’m a hummer lover and would consider it a miracle and would be so grateful if I had that many hummers in my yard
Where would they go to survive a hurricane anyway?
all hiding all around a chimney? no flood, sturdy, can move around and around to avoid winds.?
now i am all worried. does anyone actually know?
Did you know that a bunch of hummingbirds is called a charm? C’est charmant, n’est-ce pas? We live east of Richmond and Irene smacked us a good one – still no power as I type this 6 days later with the sound of generators filling the air. The whole afternoon of the hurricane our charm of hummingbirds, 10 or so, swooped madly around, apparently oblivious to the raging winds and pelting rain. We do have good sheltering eaves over our feeders. They certainly are piggy – we call them hummingbums. They have been back this week, but soon they’ll be heading off on their amazing journey south. I think the boy birds had already packed up and headed out before that wild night. Buh-bye, birdies!
P.S. 260Oakley FTW.
A friend of mine in North Carolina told me that when Hurricane Irene was passing, the hummingbirds were still out at the feeders, flying through hurricane force winds! Those are some tough little suckers!
I am so jealous. As a Floridian, I’ve seen ONE hummingbird in my entire life. How lucky these folks are to have so many.
Okay, exactly where in Virginia is this hummingbird convention being held?!? I live in Virginia and I have never seen so many in one place. This is really neat. I have all sorts of seriously cool birds in my yard, but have never had more than 2-3 hummingbirds at one time ever. Simultaneously jealous and amazed.
This is the best movie I have ever seen.
You can tell it’s a real emergency in the hummingbird world here. I have one hummingbirg feeder, and the only time they will tolerate each other so that more than one can be on the feeder at the same time is when it’s really cold and they know they’ve got to eat RIGHT NOW.
These were probably the only nectar feeders around. Thank you to whoever put these out. How about some seed for the other birds? I’m sure they’re around. Very kind and thoughtful gesture.This is the work of a real birdlover!
Looks like happy hour at Sonic! Everybody vying for a spot to order their cherry limeade.
yeeeee haaaaaa, what a great image…gasp…
LOL! Mamabear – that’s exactly what it reminded me of!
“The Birds: Part Cute. HUMMERS” In theaters now.
Why are they all females? Where are the pretty males?? Could the females not leave the area because they had to sit tight on their nests?
Probably juveniles, actually. Most adults have already left for further south, probably sick of their children. This also explains while they are more tolerant of each other. This doesn’t last very long, though. >>’
Pigs with wings, that’s what we call ‘em. We refill 8 feeders three times a week.
Once we hosted an international picnic with lots of people from Asia, Africa and Europe, in the middle of hummingbird season. Since hummers are only native to the Americas, we were afraid our guests would think they were big insects and try to swat them. So we moved the feeders a day or so beforehand so the birds could find them and our fascinated guests could watch them, had an incident-free picnic, and then moved them back.
My idea of a good time? Coffee on the front porch during hummingbird season. In a red shirt. LOVE hummingbirds!
One day a couple of summers ago a hummingbird in my yard kept flying right up to my face. As cool as that was, I kept moving away from it because I was terrified that I might instinctively swat at it. Fortunately, the incident passed without incident.
Our hummers do that when the feeder is empty, to remind us to fill it!
Oh, it’s not just the hummers that are little piggies. We have scads of goldfinches right now with oodles of babies saying feedmefeedme! 2 feeders full of black oil sunflower seed get sucked down so darned quick!
We are very fortunate, in the UK, to have mainly temperate (but dull) weather, although there are occasional catastrophic floods, and people who live near cliffs keep waking up to find that their back gardens are 300 feet down on the beach. However, the downside is that we don’t get to enjoy beautiful creatures like hummingbirds.
I believe you make up for it with hedgepigs and kiera knightley
And Colin Firth. *sigh*
yeah, sigh
And Richard Armitage. *sigh*
*Don’t forget Craig-y!!!*
(yes I’m aware that he hails from Scotland….but it’s the AREA that you’re referencing…)
*sigh*
And Alan Rickman.
And Derek Jacobi.
And every Doctor Who.
Alan Rickman…heavy sigh.
Isn’t Guy Pierce Australian?
And Hugh Laurie.
and, let’s face it, john hurt…
And Orlando Bloom, and Tom Felton, and Rupert Grint, and Ian McKellan, and Charles Dance, and Bill Nighy, and Geoffrey Rush, and Jude Law, and Anthony Hopkins, and Sean Connery, and Stuart Townsend, and Gerard Butler, and Jason Isaacs, and Ewan McGregor, and and Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman, and Benedict Cumberbatch, and Martin Freeman, and David Bowie, and Luke Goss, and Guy Pierce, and Colin Firth, and Sean Bean, and Cillian Murphy…
Did I miss anyone?
OMG Clive Owen anyone? ;p
As much as I think these birds are lovely, I’d willingly trade them for a zillion Collin Firths in my back yard.
Wouldn’t we all…
And thanks to my Invisible Stable of Extra-Dimensional Husbands™, you can!
I have no idea what we’re talking about here as I have not read the whole comment thread yet. Are you guys talking about movie folks with weird names? Like Rip Torn?
And Stephen Fry.
oooooh YEH bebeh.
[even with his statement about not being in the baby-making business....or something to that effect, from the film Peter's Friends]
And Plain Chocolate Hobnobs.
Thank you one and all. I think it is one of the most beautiful places on earth, even though we can’t boast anything as spectacular as eg Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon. And we do have all those amazinks people, as well. Not bad for a small island
P.S. AuntieB, I’ve just watched (again) Derek Jacobi in the wonderful BBC production of Richard II. He embodied majesty, nobility, kingship, and great human fallibility all at the same time.
I’ll take Derek Jacobi, please. And Patrick Stewart.
(I remember watching a BBC production of Hamlet with Derek Jacobi and Patrick Stewart during my junior year of high school. [sigh])
Yea, Patrick Stewart! Yea, Colin Firth! (If you’ve never seen the 6 hour miniseries of starring Colin, you must see it pronto!)
For some reason, part of my post was deleted! ” Pride and Prejudice” should be inserted between OF and STARRING. (Weird.)
Richard II!!!! That’s was my first introduction to the wonderfulness that is Sir Derek Jacobi! I’ve been a huge fan ever since.
Why has nobody mentioned doormice yet??
I know how you feel bookmonstercats. We have no hummers in Australia either. I’m so glad I can see them here.
But you have all the OTHER birds that the rest of the world envies, like cockatoos, rainbow lorikeets, wild budgies, galahs, and those hoohoohoohahaha birds.
Aw, what did I say? Budgies?
True.
Did you get sent to the mod lounge for that Theresa? Here, my lorikeets will keep you company and amuse you while you enjoy a nice dry martini.
It was probably “hooha” that did it! “-)
T’was the [malehen]atoos did it.
I believe you mean kookaburras (spelling?).
Yes, i did, but I found the name “kookaburra” insufficiently silly.
Good Lord, I’m ecstatic if I see two at a time at my feeder(s). This homeowner must have massive flower gardens or be in an area that offers little sustenance otherwise.
This video is awesome!!!! It’s amazing to see so many at once.
We took in our HB feeders just prior to the worst of Irene (and felt so bad about it) and when the winds finally died down the next day we put them right back out. We usually have only 4 hummingbirds on a rotating basis and after Irene I was thrilled to see them come two at a time and not fight one another… although the bumble bee hovering around the feeder was chased mercilessly by both birds!
I, for one, welcome our fluttering overlords.
WINS
Looks like the approach at LAX.
Awe inspiring. Brought a tear to my eye.
yes, thank you for getting your feeders back up and helping so many teensy lil guys. looks like you still have stuff down in your yard too. looks like yuo may be the obly feeders around right now. hope you survived with minimal damage and a kudos to you!
Even at Costa Rican park HQs with feeders, I’ve never seen that many hummers at once, though there they had numerous species and in the eastern US we have just one.
The hummers without red throat feathers are females but also young males, and breeding males may turn a bit orange and less obvious late in the season.
It’s a busy day at the fuel depot for Humways, Bunway Airlines’ new commuter express division!
*golf clap*
Sorry i didn’t comment earlier, while i had power it was only about two and a half hours ago the internet gpt back on
Best moment comes at about 1:27 near the bottom right of the screen.
It’s a veritable glittering, a bouquet, a tune, or, or, or … a symphony of hummingbirds!!
Oh my gosh! I too have never seen that many hummingbirds in one location at the same time. How marvelous. And kudos to the kind soul(s) who provided the feeders! Bless. ♥
It’s been said, but I must say it again: That’s a LOT of hummingbirds!
Oh thank you for feeding them!! (and for being educated enough to not use the red dye)
You must be going through sugar in pounds.
The Hummer Gods will reward you.
Hungry Hungry Hummers!
anyone else think this is kinda scary? I mean, what happens when they get tired of sugar water and instead go for the eyes?! THE EYES!!!
“All Quiet on the Western Front” never had anything like this.
*running tackle hug at Theo!*
awesomeeEE.
I wonder how long that food will last. Then the filmer must brave THAT to go out and refill all those feeders. If you’ve ever faced down territorial hummers……….
Those are some BIG (a$$) feeders. The front one must have at least 12 filling stations. The Hummers for the Hummers. The fuel they must go through. Is that really environmentally friendly? (LOVE this video!)
Sheeeeeit, if the Hummer H3 ran on sugar water, and could HOVER, I’d own a damn FLEET. Where the hell is my flying car, already?!
Ask George Jetson.
I’m in the UK too and sooo jealous of the hummingbird party!
But wouldn’t swap our hedgies, choc hobnobs or Colin Firth. or Stephen Fry. Hugh Laurie anyone?
Me! Me!
Umm… could you just pack him up and go on sending him here, I’ll send you the hummers in return mail… Totally will… We, uhm, have so many hummers here in Finland… yea, we’re totally overstocked… So, uhm, send Mr Laurie over and you’ll totally get the hummers, ‘kay?
OKAAAY! Deal
Goes off for bubble wrap………whoaah wait a minute. Finland??? Darn, I was getting so excited then and was gonna get some of them bright red hummer buffet dishes 
Oh damn, you saw through my cunning plan
ditto!
Holy crap peeps! this has nothing to do with this thread but I was watching this show on Animal Planet about dogs. I’m more a cat person myself but WOW! Dogs are so cool! This show is showing some really, really, really cool things that dogs can do! Yay for dogs!!
I loved having my bird feeders out on my deck – from finches to hummingbirds I just loved it. Then my…neighbor….complained to the apartment owners that “my” birds were pooping on her deck underneath mine and the management made me take me them down…despite my argument to the contrary…I mean, I live on the ground floor…there is no one living underneath me… I even sent a sarcastic note with pictures to the office and they called it hate mail and told me still no feeders cause I was attracting birds, ducks and geese (the apartment complex is on a lake…that has it’s own duck and geese but apparently I attract them so….) Can you hear the incredulity in my tone???
*shakes fist in the direction of The Management*
Fie on them!
an infestation of the cutest kind!! we have a few little guys i have been swooning over on our feeder all summer. i am very jealous of this high activity area!! i would love to be out there listening to all of their wings in constant motion. thanks for sharing.