Hummingbirds vs. Golden Eagles
Sveral days ago, we had an unusual wind in our foothills. Our prevailing wind normally comes from the west or northwest, usually not more than five to eight miles per hour or so.
Not only did we have fifteen to twenty-five mile per hour winds but they came out of the east and northeast. There was a low pressure area over the valley, so the winds were rushing from a higher pressure area to a lower pressure one.
Often this type of disturbance will blow for a few minutes, maybe even as long as half an hour, adjusting pressure imbalances, then settle down into gentle breezes. After an hour the easterly wind was still bending branches, blowing leaves all over the place, and varying between fifteen and twenty miles per hour.
That evening, after things settled down, I noticed a great reduction in the number of hummingbirds around my feeders. I assumed when we got closer to their dusk feeding time, the former large number of birds feeding would return. They haven't come back yet, several days later.
Before the wind event, we were filling feeders either late at night so the birds would have toppedoff feeders first thing, or I'd get up early and feed them before their dawn feeding. If they started the day with full feeders, they nearly emptied every feeder by dark.
Now, several days later, there are still plenty of birds around, but nothing like the numbers we had before. Filling is now needed every day and a half. Today they went two full days before requiring refilling. Our birds haven't abandoned us, but they certainly thinned down.
Did the wind convince the migrating portion of the hummingbird population it was time to get out of our foothills. Did many pack up and head south?
On the other hand, did the wind blow them out into the valley? Did feeders in Porterville and points west suddenly get a boost in the number of birds eating in that area?
Obviously, there are still quite a few birds sipping sugar-water at our house. However, there certainly are a lot less than before the wind. They've gone from twenty hours between fillings to almost forty-eight.
I knew it was approaching the time where the season would roll along toward fall and winter convincing the birds it was time to migrate. The wind seems to have convinced the birds to go elsewhere, and it also seems to be coinciding with the weather cooling off.
In previous months, I've spotted a pair of golden eagles near my home. I assume they have a nest in a steep canyon not far from my house. The male stands roughly two and one half feet tall with a wingspan of approximately five feet. He's much larger than the biggest redtailed hawks, and at least equal in size to the large buzzards.
However, the female is the giant. I had a calf die near the hill a few years ago, and the pair of goldens were helping clean it up. The male ate his fill and left the area, while she continued to feast. When she finished, she hopped up on a rock to preen and clean herself.
When I spotted the female golden eagle cleaning herself on the top of a familiar rock, I was struck by the sheer size of this bird. I estimated she must stand close to four feet tall. When she opened her wings to fly away, I was shocked. Gauging her size by the rock and tree, it would appear to me she has very close to a six and one half foot wingspan, maybe even closer to seven feet. She is magnificent.
These birds are magnificent fliers and maneuver back and forth across our hillside with great skill, using only the bubbles of air being forced upward by the slope of the ground underneath. The speed with which they can climb from the level of our house to the top of the hill is startling.
Bob, who works for us part-time, came in last week, telling me some interesting news about our resident golden eagles. My major spring is high on the side of the hill, requiring us to climb the hill to service problems with our water supply.
Bob had been to the spring to correct a minor problem, and was walking back toward the quad when he spied three birds the same color as the senior pair. They are a good deal smaller than their parents, but larger than a big red-tail hawk. As they dipped toward the surface of the hill to grab any available lift, they flew within a very few feet of Bob.
All three birds are the same color as their parents, but each had what he described as “spotted youth feathers” on their chest and belly. Apparently our pair of resident golden eagles have raised some babies in the nearby canyon. I hope I get to see them before they move on.
I would assume the older pair have their territory where they hunt and live, so as these younger birds mature they will have to move out and find their own area. There must come a day when Mom and Dad Eagle have that big talk about leaving the nest, both literally and figuratively. Brent Gill lives in Springville. His “Daunt to Dillonwood” column appears regularly in The Porterville Recorder through the generosity of Weisenberger’s Hardware on West Olive in Porterville. If you enjoyed this column, follow his blog at http://