It has been extremely dry in New Mexico this year. There have been many terrible fires that have caused a great deal of damage. Because of the extreme fire damage, many of the areas that I like to visit to watch and photograph birds and wildlife have been closed to the public. Last weekend, after I visited a local Farmer’s Market, I decided to see if the Rio Grande Nature Center was open. The nature center and the grounds around it were open, although the part that extends into the Rio Grande Bosque was closed. While I was walking around the grounds, I saw quite a few Black-chinned Hummingbirds. One landed on a branch fairly close to me. As I stopped to observe her, I noticed that she had two chicks in a nest near where she landed. The nest was inside a large bush, and the lighting conditions were not the best. However, I was able to take a number of photographs.
Black-chinned Hummingbird chicks.
Black-chinned Hummingbird chicks, another angle.
Waiting for Mom to come back to the nest.
I hoped that if I stayed quietly near the nest, the mother hummingbird would return to feed the chicks. I stood quietly and waited, and she arrived within five minutes.
Mom hummingbird arrives at the nest.
Feeding one of the chicks.
The second chick looks impatient.
The other chick is fed.
An un-cropped photo shows how tiny the nest really is.
Apparently when Mom Hummingbird is not taking care of the chicks she can be found hanging out at the local bar.
Local hummingbird bar.
When I stopped by the Rio Grande Nature Center a little more than a week later, the chicks had fledged and the nest was deserted. I will check back to see if this little hummingbird mom will raise more chicks this year.
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Photo Feathers 