~ baby hummingbirds - day 19-20 ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, my dad has graciously allowed me to share his photographs

of the two baby hummingbirds that are living in his yard.

For the previous entries,

documenting them from eggs until the present,

please see here:

Eggs

1-3 days old

4-9 days old

10-16 days old

17 days old

18 days old

day 19

~ momma hummingbird feeding her twins ~

(picture by my mom, Carolyn)

day 19

Hummingbirds often choose nesting sites near where woodland hawks nest.

These fast-flying hawks (like the sharp-shinned and cooper's in the East)

prey on the predators of hummingbirds.

day 20

day 20

They should be fledging any day now!

My dad says they are doing a lot of preening, flapping their wings,

and even hopping out of the nest.

Once they've left their nest,

they will not return,

but their mother will feed them for a few days.

~carrie~

~ summer solstice celebration ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last weekend, our Waldorf group gathered to celebrate the Summer Solstice!

~ as usual, the kids get all the good seats ~ 

The spread of food was amazing, 

with everyone bringing delicious dishes,

from their gardens and farmers' markets.

Afterwards, everyone went outside to play in our host's amazing backyard!

I snapped this quick picture of my partner carrying her twin boys.

Brings back memories of when our twins were that small.  

~ hmmmm, i don't think he misses this too much ~ 

Our host also made 5 - 5!! - different flavors of homemade ice cream and sorbet.

I sampled the mint chocolate chip - divine!

Here's a sweet picture of her twin boys and my twin girls.

~ i love those little boys eyeing the other's cone! ~ 

Laurel and Daddy have a cuddle after ice cream. 

She was recovering from an encounter with my rotary cutter (!!!!)

which landed us in the ER for 4 stitches in the end of her finger.  

 ~ impossibly cute makenna ~

~ bursting with precious personality these days ~

~ dear friend t and lela holding clancey the kitten ~ 

For the third year, our family made the Sun pinata for the party.

This year is was tougher than ever,

perhaps from the fact that it was slightly damp,

and covered in mirrors, jingle bells and curly-cue paper

(which drooped in the thick NC air).

 ~ youngest to oldest ~

 ~ r giving it a good hard *twack* ~

 ~ liv and lela ~

 ~ t takes her turn, only days out of a cast for her broken elbow ~

 

 ~ parker ~

 ~ lela ~

 ~ 6 year old l means business ~

 ~ lefty jacob ~

 ~ s taking his turn ~

 ~ blake's daddy was manning the pinata, and didn't make it easy for him! ~

 ~ blake ~

 ~ swing and a miss as his daddy pulls the pinata up higher ~

 ~ n sends the pinata spinning ~

Having gone through all the children,

and the pinata was still intact,

we decided to let all the mommas have a swing.

 ~ tanya ~

 ~ our host ~

 ~ c sends it spinning! ~

Time to move on to the daddies!

Our daddy, former park ranger police officer, had the right technique,

and soon the pinata burst open!

~ lefty daddy subdues the pinata ~

The children all rushed in like a flood,

as chocolates, gems, lollipops, sparklers and taffy rained down!

As a testament to the overwhelming amount of goodies in the pinata,

and the practical nature of our children,

there were several large handfuls left on the blanket.

~ l camp prepared with a basket for her stash ~ 

Afterwards, all the adults were glowing with the laughter.

I'm so glad that we had a turn at the pinata,

it was a lot of fun and it was good for the children to see us enjoying it.

I also suspect that the boys especially were impressed 

by all the strong daddies.  

A short walk through the woods took us to a little pond.

Once again, our hosts supplied rods, reels and bait,

and the children all had turns fishing.

 ~ lela - she is her mother's daughter ~

Their were many species of frogs calling from the alders around the pond,

and fireflies began to rise up out of the grass.

In the darkness, we tromped up the hillside trail again,

where a small fire greeted us.

It was good to gather again.

~ carrie ~

~ baby hummingbirds - day 18 ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is day 18 for the baby ruby throats!

My dad has taken a lot more wonderful pictures of these little soon-to-be-flying gems,

so please enjoy his photography!

See that little hint of green on the tips of the feathers?

It seem the first hints of iridescence are appearing.

In the bird world, feather color arises in two ways.

First is pigment, and you see this in the reds of cardinals, browns of thrashers, and yellows of goldfinches.

Blues and iridescent colors are not pigments.

Instead, they are a special optical phenomenon, 

caused by the light hitting specially layered structures in the feathers.

The light is reflected in such a way that the color is only visible at certain angles.

(I'm biting my tongue to give a more scientific explanation!)

So when you see a lovely iridescent green hummingbird, or a regal bluebird,

you are only seeing the color because of their magic trick.

If the hummingbird darts in a different direction,

you may not be able to see the iridescence, and instead the bird will appear grayish.

These little babies are probably going to be leaving the nest in the next day or so!  

They look like they're ready to fly and learn about the big wide world around them.

~carrie~