Thursday, August 29, 2013

New Hummingbird Note Cards!

This is one of my favorite times of year!  It's the time when local Ruby-throated hummingbird juveniles are out of the nest and moving around, and northern males are migrating through, fattening up on insects as they get ready for their long migration journey across the Gulf of Mexico.
The males leave first and are usually gone from east Tennessee by the middle of September.  Amazingly, that is only a couple of weeks away.  They will be followed by the females who have finished nesting, and the juveniles will leave last, along with the late nesting females.
In the spring I refurbished my hummingbird garden and added more hummer-attracting plants--cardinal flowers, black and blue salvia, autumn salvia and pineapple sage.  Pentas, lantana, and butterfly weed are more for butterflies, but they attract hummingbirds too.  I then topped the garden off with nine hummingbird feeders.
Every time I have the opportunity and there's good light, I plant myself near the flowers and enjoy the challenge of capturing a hummingbird in flight, nectaring a flower or sometimes while they're perched on the feeder--fun, funny and beautiful!  

All of this hummingbird watching stirs a deep love and enjoyment of hummingbirds and inspires art.  
We have just spent a day of celebrating hummingbirds at our Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival sponsored by the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society and Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville. Visit by blog post on the festival and check out the T-shirts the volunteers are wearing!  My male hummingbird study, created about this time last year, became the logo art for the festival and was printed on the festival T-shirts and the banner!  (above)

To visit more hummingbird art on this blog visit:  hummingbirds.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Wonder of Hummingbird Festival August 24th--TOMORROW!

Join us at the Wonder of Hummingbird Festival tomorrow, August 24th and Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville Tennessee.

A fun, exciting event that will be filled with hummingbirds!  Hummingbird banding with Mark Armstrong our very gentle Master Bander of songbirds and hummingbirds, expert speakers on several different nature subjects including bluebirds, hummingbirds, bears and wolves, vendors with plants and nature crafts, lots of food vendors and wildlife demonstrations!  Great fun and education for the whole family!  

Visit this link to get more information and complete directions:  Wonder of Hummingbird Festival
To visit more hummingbird art on this blog visit:  hummingbirds
More information about hummingbird banding and hummingbirds.

Friday, August 9, 2013

The Hummingbird Days of Summer

Breeding season is coming to a close for hummingbirds in our area, except for a few late nesters.  Lots of juveniles are visiting the feeders and hummingbirds from northern areas are starting to migrate.  This is when activity at nectar feeders and in gardens becomes very busy and its also my favorite time to paint hummingbirds!
The above hummingbird visiting a black and blue salvia is one of my sketches this season.
Below, a male hummingbird visits the black and blue blossoms.  (Some varieties are the deep blue below, others look deep purple.)

Besides enjoying myself, I'm getting ready for the Wonder of Hummingbird Festival in Knoxville, TN, August 24th at Ijams Nature Center.  We will be celebrating hummingbirds and their migration with Mark Armstrong, Master Bander, who will demonstrate how he bands hummingbirds so scientists can discover more about the health and behavior of the population.


Ocean Trail at Rancho Palos Verdes Preserve, California--2015

Ocean Trail at Rancho Palos Verdes Preserve, California--2015

Joshua Tree National Forest, California, with son Chad and daughter Thuan--2015

Joshua Tree National Forest, California, with son Chad and daughter Thuan--2015
Photo credit: Thuan Tram

Bird banding with Mark Armstrong at Seven Islands State Birding Park - 2014

Bird banding with Mark Armstrong at Seven Islands State Birding Park - 2014
Photo courtesy of Jody Stone

Birds Close-up

Birds Close-up
Photo courtesy of Karen Wilkenson

Enjoying Gray Jays in Churchill, Manitoba

Enjoying Gray Jays in Churchill, Manitoba
Photo courtesy of Blue Sky Expeditions

A dog sled experience with Blue Sky Expeditions, Churchill, MB--2014

A dog sled experience with Blue Sky Expeditions, Churchill, MB--2014
Photo courtesy of Blue Sky Expeditions

Churchill, Manitoba--2014

Churchill, Manitoba--2014
Photo courtesy of Blue Sky

2014 Hummingbird Festival

2014 Hummingbird Festival
Photo courtesy of Jody Stone

Smithsonian National Zoo with one of my Whooping Crane art banners and son, John--2014

Smithsonian National Zoo with one of my Whooping Crane art banners and son, John--2014

Muir Woods on the Dipsea Trail at Stinson Beach, California--2014

Muir Woods on the Dipsea Trail at Stinson Beach, California--2014
Photo courtesy of Wendy Pitts Reeves

Checking out the gulls at Stinson Beach--2014

Checking out the gulls at Stinson Beach--2014
Photo courtesy of Wendy Pitts Reeves

Discovery Hike in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska--2012

Discovery Hike in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska--2012
Photo courtesy of Ruth Carter
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