tiny nest

Last week, when I was out on the front patio watering, a little hummingbird kept flying around my head and up into the magnolia tree. Yesterday, the same thing happened and I could hear it fluttering (humming) in and out of the tree. So, I looked up and searched around the leaves with my spying eyes. Sure enough, out near the end of one of the lower branches, I spotted the tiniest little nest.

With the tiniest little hummingbird sitting in it. I stood and watched for awhile and she really didn't seem to mind that I was there. I went in and grabbed my camera with the long zoom lens and snapped a few pics. She just sat up there as proud as she could be.

It really is amazing how intricately woven her nest is. It's so soft looking.

 I think she gathered lots of the fluffy "cotton" stuff that recently bloomed. It is a native Arizona plant that grows wild in the desert. I'm not sure what it is called but, the fluff that comes off  is almost as bad as the cotton that flies around after a cottonwood tree blooms. When I told Chuck it looked like she had used that cotton fluff (that has been a nuisance around here)...he said he was glad it was good for something!  I watched her through our bedroom window this morning using her long beak to weave more into it. She used her beak like a long needle!

While she was away from her nest, Austin, with his six foot stature and arms that can reach forever, held his cell phone up into the leaves and snapped this photo.

                                        Two sweet little eggs in a very soft and cozy nest.

Today, every time I peek up there, I can see her sitting diligently on her tiny little nest. Too cute!

This is a busy time of year for all the birds around here. They are flitting and nesting and at times acting a little crazy. Two doves in particular, have been acting all sorts of strange and creepy today. I've gotten some photos that I will share soon. I mean...Alfred Hitchcock kind of creepy! When I told Austin about it earlier and he looked around to see my remedy, he said it kinda looked like a crazy lady lived here. Well, I just sent him a pic from my phone (because they were back again) and he texted back and said "what the heck?" Wait until he sees the video. Don't call ME crazy!

Ok...call me crazy...but if you were to see the rattlesnakes, the tarantulas, the bobcats, the gila monsters, the king snakes, the lizards, giant bugs, javalina, scorpions, and these crazy birds...you might try some juvenile crazy lady tactics too! Oh, and how about this most recent treat while casually eating our lunch on the back patio the other day...

 Just slithering along the fence...

 ...and then coiled himself up in the trees...

A nice long Sonoran Gopher snake. (Chuck looked it up because we hadn't seen that particular kind before.) His coloring looks different in the shade. P.S. Chuck took that close up photo with his phone camera. The other two I took, with my zoom lens, from far , far away.  Good news though...they eat rodents!

I'd like to leave you with a more pleasant image.

The hummingbird is more enjoyable to look at.
So peaceful and cute.

Oh... I'm not a crazy lady...yet.