Orchids and Hummingbirds - tis the season!
 

I thought I'd share these pictures I just took for the Holidays; Here in Southern California we have several species of hummingbirds overwinter, and my wife and I have numerous feeders around the house, which they use constantly. It's easy to bring out a flowering orchid and place it near one of the feeders, and on the next visit the hummer will make sure to investigate the new flower. Of course, they don't get any nectar so they're disappointed and go back to the feeder, but it's a great photo opportunity. I am also beginning to suspect they actually remember the particular orchid if they already tried it with no luck, and ignore it from then on: I offered one very territorial male an extremely fragrant Cycnoches a few days ago, and tried to get a photo today and he kept ignoring it. So I had to pull out a Cat he's not smelled before and got these shots.

Happy Holidays to you all!

Ok this makes me wonder why i am living in a place with cold and clouds 6 months of the year...thanks for the wake-up call ;)

This is so so amazing, I love the bloom, color is just gorgeous, and the picture with hummingbird makes it so much better! Excellent!

Oh I just love the little hummingbirds! This makes me ache for springtime. Thanks so much for posting this. You take really good pictures. I think I will put up hummingbird feeders in the spring time.

Beautiful pix. Thanks for posting!

Catherine

Awesome!

I love seeing the hummingbirds visit my blooming Christmas cactus :)

How cool is that, I won't see hummers for another 6 months, I long for the warmer months.

Really cool. Very smart hummingbirds. I never get to see them here....too warm for them , I guess.

We have Annas hummingbirds which winter here on the island,but we don't see them often.

That's neat. I have a couple hummingbird feeders that I put out in the spring and summer. The hummingbirds usually ignore my orchids, other than the phrag. besseae hybrids (reds), but those don't really produce any nectar, so it's a bit deceptive. I also keep a small collection of aloe species and aloe relatives, and the hummingbirds really love those when they're in bloom.