The Homebuilder

Despite the free fall in the Dow today, not all homebuilders are being stymied by the recession. I went out to water the backyard and heard the familiar buzz of a nearby hummingbird. We have lots of them around here (they really like the eucalyptus trees that border our neighborhood). The buzz seemed rather insistent and the bird was hovering nearby keeping an eye on me.

As I walked back in the house I noticed some new construction and the reason for the nervous hummer. We have a set of lights that run around our backyard patio cover.

A closer look at one of the lights shows that there has been an addition to the property.

Closer yet and you see the hummingbird nest which is being built in the crown of the light.

I took a shot from above to see if anything was in the next yet. No eggs, but it looks like it's almost ready. What you're looking at is about the size of a half dollar.

I was hoping to catch a photo of the homebuilder, so I set up a chair and waited for awhile.  She didn't return to the nest, but I did spot her sitting on a vine a few feet away doing some preening.

I'm not a birdwatcher, but I did a little research and she appears to be a female Allen's Hummingbird, one of six hummingbird species found around here.

She sat there for several minutes carefully cleaning and arranging her feathers.

I'm hoping she's not an endangered species because I don't want the Feds coming in and turning my backyard into a wildlife refuge.