Original posting:
Reply #95 on: 03 April 2023, 07:24:14 »
From Chat:aryanahummingbird Mod2 days ago edited
Still no sign of Aryana's nest, but she was ferrying lots of cotton from the fluff cage yesterday. (Did you catch any of that in real time, or watch the videos before they vanished?) More signs of her return: Tiny remnants of fluff, scattered like bread crumbs on the lower branches of the fuchsia and littering the ground below.
I took a flashlight outside this morning, before the camera went live, to have myself a look-see. If she’s building a nest in the reachable branches, it’s well hidden. If she was perched nearby, she kept perfectly still so I wouldn’t find her. I’ll observe again during daylight hours, watching her flight patterns and behaviors for clues. I hope you'll do the same.
Sweet side note: This fuchsia is roomy enough to play host to hummingbirds and songbirds, simultaneously. Pretty sure you already noticed a couple of larger birds in the background! Turns out, it's a pair of house finches. They are currently nesting in this alcove-- above the roofline, where it's cloaked by a privacy curtain of flowering branches. [Click "See More," below, so you can visualize the area I'm talking about.] Perspectives, right? You wouldn't have seen this on camera, because it's a healthy distance from Aryana's previous nests AND the fluff cage, which they share.
Don't you worry: Aryana's built nests in this fuchsia many times before. She's also built nests in other areas of this habitat. She knows her friends, and she's wiser, now, about potential enemies. All signs point to the fact that she's building another nest, where instinct tells her they'll be sheltered from the elements and protected from the prying eyes of potential predators. It's up to her to show us where it is.