Our first big snowfall of the season started last night. The low temperature here was 26F (-3.3C). For my hummingbirds I have 3 feeders available. Two of them were frozen up this morning. I placed a heater ... yes, heater ... on the 3rd feeder and it did not freeze up. See more below about the heater.
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| Anna's hummingbirds are now regular winter residents in Seattle. The shot above is actually taken through my window. This bird is a regular at my feeders. The hummer is resting in a tree about 6 feet away from one of my feeders. |
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| We had at least 6 inches of snow, probably more. This much snow overnight is quite unusual for Seattle. |
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| This hummer is in a tree in the front yard about 50 feet from the feeders. Their routine is to feed for a few seconds, jet down to the tree, and rest there for several minutes. Repeat. |
→ Click on images for a better view. ←
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| This is my first year to keep feeders available for hummers all winter. I did my homework on what to do about preventing feeders from freezing up in cold weather. |
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| The "heater" is actually just a small light bulb in a small container that clips on the the rim of the feeder. |
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| Of course, the light needs power, so must be plugged in. Luckily, I do have a power outlet on my deck. |
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| Of my 3 feeders this was the only one that did not freeze up last night. Our low temp was about 26F (-3.3C) |
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| Of the 2 feeders that did freeze, they were also covered with snow. I took them down, and refilled them with fresh nectar. The hummers took to them immediately. |
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| A few nights ago at sunset I happened to catch 2 hummers on one feeder. That is rare because they are not good at sharing. I've noticed that late in the evening and early in the morning, when they feed heavily, they are more likely to share a feeder. |
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| The American Robins are back this morning. More about them in a previous post, Birds of a feather. |
If you enjoy critters like I do check out Eileen's Saturday's Critters Thanks, Eileen, for hosting and sharing.
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| Closer look at one of the American Robins. This one looks healthy to me. |
Still love to see the marine traffic and "spot ships."
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| My view looks out over Puget Sound to the west. In this shot, Washington State Ferries are spotted on their run between downtown Seattle and Bainbridge Island. The one on the left is westbound and the other is heading to Seattle. Those houses on the shoreline of Bainbridge Island must have a wonderful view of Seattle. They are small but pricey! |
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| A Maersk Line freighter is departing Seattle in this shot. At the bottom ... Elliott Bay Marina, home to 100s of sailboats. Above the ship, in the distance, Bainbridge Island, WA and the Olympic Mountains. Maersk website |
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| A very unusual piece of marine traffic. There were 3 tugs guiding this crane. I believe this is the largest barge based crane I have seen. The tugs provide a bit of scale. |
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| They took several minutes to spin this equipment around before docking it at Pier 91. Spotted on February 11th |
Not to miss skies ...
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| Looking southwest just before sunset. February 9th |
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| Taken a few minutes after the previous photo and after the sun got below the clouds. February 9th |
Beautiful shots, love the sunset.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly got a good dump of snow which gives you some good opportunities for photos.
ReplyDeleteHow nice of you to keep the hummer feeders going even in winter with heat! :) Love the robins and the sky photo are breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteBless you for caring for those beautiful tiny birds. All these tiny creatures are easy to miss but so important to our world.
ReplyDeleteLove the ships. Those tugs are easy to miss!
Hello John,
ReplyDeleteThe hummingbirds must love you and your heated feeders. What a neat idea, I am glad you were able to set up the heated hummingbird on your deck. You are making sure they are able to eat and keep warm on the cold night. I love the robins, they are pretty. Beautiful views of the ships and sunset! Thank you for linking up your post. Take care, enjoy your day! Have a great new week! PS, I appreciate the comment on my blog.
Beautiful pictures. We have had a lot of snow lately-but the biggest problem is our temperature. Right now we are minus 13˚F and with wind chills it is minus 30˚F. Brrr....TOOO COLD!
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day, John. Diana
I'd say we had about six inches of snow here, and yesterday (Saturday) it was still very windy and cold. Today, it's just around freezing in the middle of the day, with snow still falling. I love your hummers, and your skies are just stunning! :-)
ReplyDeleteOh my! This post is full of fascinating photos. Seeing Hummingbirds in the snow just looks so wrong to me. I know it is not as cold where you are so it is possible. I'm glad you found a way to keep a feeder from freezing. of course the sky scenes are gorgeous and you now I enjoy seeing the ships. Great post. keep well and have a good week.
ReplyDeleteHummingbirds in snow is really news to me. I had no idea such tiny bodies could stay warm in such conditions. They are lucky to have your heated feeder!
ReplyDeletebe well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Super shots! I am really amazed at the winter hummers...I find that fascinating. I love to watch them.
ReplyDeleteStay warm and safe!
Oh John, what beautiful skies and an absolute joy to see the hummers.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of a heater before, such a good idea.
I do like your American robins their colouring is a little different to our European ones.
I think robins are my favourite bird, they visit the garden quite regularly.
Take care.
Stay well and warm.
All the best Jan
Love these shots. So amazing to the see the hummers in the snow!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post
ReplyDeletePlease read my next post
ReplyDeletedear John WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteyour love for hummers made my eyes wet
these are spectacular shots and by enlarging it i loved them more :) thank you for making my day with such delightful images ,the sunset and quote both are beautiful
blessings to you and your beautiful world!
You have a beautiful view, John! I neve rknew hummingbirds could survive in cold and snow. We see them here in Colorado in summer but they fly south in fall.
ReplyDeleteDear John, it is always a pleasure visiting your blog and I love that you show us the beauty that still belongs to the city of Seattle. Now days all we hear about is the destruction and the mess that your dear city has turned into, but you keep it's loveliness alive. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteJohn, you live in a wonderful place ... if I were you I might never be able to do anything but look at the views ! (We would starve to deathLol!) ..... your hummers are very lucky to have you there taking care of them with that clever heater to keep their food ready to sip! I read just recently that Anna’s hummingbirds do not migrate and so now they are saying to keep on filling your feeders. (Back when we fed birds, they used to say to quit in the late fall so you wouldn’t encourage them to stay). I never did stop, so I’m glad to know after all these years that I was doing the right thing by following my instinct. ....Thank you for sharing all the Washington beauty and the sweet birds.
ReplyDelete