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Saturday, December 13, 2014

Wild Bird Wednesday Nuthatch, Hoya


Autumn is swiftly coming to a close, yet we still have some leaves left on some trees.   Today I am linking with-

Wild Bird Wednesday hosted by Stewart M.

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura


The birds are eagerly awaiting seeds when I go out in the morning, and flit nervously in to grab a seed then escape.  So it is hard to get good photos, here is one of the fastest that often gives me a blur, the tiny Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta canadensis-   
"Now you see me, now you don't!"-

Like the Chickadee, they like to roam conifer forests in groups, and can hunt bugs upside down on the undersides of the branches-   "Score!"

"The Masked Marauder Strikes Again!"

"I'm nutty and I know it!"

"I work out!"

Stealth-

The next houseplant in my continuing bloom series is another yellow line plant, leave it on the yellow line of the road and it will survive as long as no one drives over it, Hoya carnosa.  Hoyas are tropical relatives of Milkweed, and share the pentagonal buds that open into 5 pointed stars.


The leaves are thick, dark glossy green with some silver frosting.   The plant blooms on permanent bloom stalks, the spent flowers falling off leave little scars and the next bloom cycle grows from the tip, the flowers arranged in a half-spherical shape.   

The fragrance is delightful, some find it too sweet, and the flowers exude wonderful drops of nectar, which I like to taste, very fragrant.

The Hoya vines are very easy to propagate as well, like tomatoes they form little bumps on the stems, which are precursors of roots, so just cutting the vine above some of the bumps and putting it in a glass of water causes the roots to grow out from the bumps, and when sufficiently long, I just plant them in some good potting soil and stick the plant in a sunny west or south facing window.  Water perhaps once a week, they are not fussy, and in spring, summer, and even into fall they will bloom.   It will take new cuttings a while to grow enough to start making the bloom stalks, or you can be sneaky and root vines long enough to already have some bloom stalks for faster bloom.

In the tropics there are many colors, textures, and sizes of Hoya vines and flowers.   Enjoy!



Wishing everyone a Happy Chanukah, December 16-24, and joyous Christmas season.    Hannah

                                                                                   or cameras are macro

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy visiting your blogs and leaving comments, but can't if google+ is the only option so will comment here instead.

53 comments:

  1. Beautiful little bird and I especially like the 4th shot. the flower head is stunning. Have a lovely weekend.

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    1. Thanks, Margaret, I have up to 12 flowers at once all spring, summer, and into fall, and they smell so wonderful.

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  2. Macro shots of the flower are terrific.

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    1. Thanks, Rainfield, it's fun to try to capture the waxy texture.

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  3. I love the adorable nuthatch, awesome series of photos. And your flowers are beautiful. Thank you for linking up your critter post, have a happy weekend!

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    1. Thanks, Eileen, I had to make a lot of attempts to get these, so many empty or blurred photos.

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  4. Nuthatch are great birds - I have been lucky enough to band some in the UK - they are really solid little birds!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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    1. Thanks Stewart, yes, I'm impressed with videos on YouTube showing them hunting for bugs in the bark going down head first. Quite some back claws they have too!

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  5. Such a lovely bird, the Nuthatch. Love the flowers, too
    Have a wonderful week-end!
    Lea

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    1. Thanks, Lea, I am intrigued by its colors, the peach with the blue, I've been seeing that in a number of birds recently, like the European Jay.

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  6. I LOVE nuthatches, such sweet birds.

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    1. Yes, they are very exciting, they come and leave so fast.

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  7. Such a pretty little bird and your flowers are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing these lovely photos with Today's Flowers and wishing you a happy weekend :)

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    1. Thanks, Denise, I so enjoy the Hoya flowers every year. Thanks for hosting, and the beautiful red flowers.

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    1. Thanks, Theresa, I enjoyed your Whistling Ducks.

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  9. Beautiful little Red-breasted Nuthatch! We are hoping some of them make it down our way this winter.

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    1. I would love to see the Cardinals and other birds down there this winter!

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  10. The nuthatch is adorable! I love the hoya as well. Enjoy your weekend!

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    1. Thanks, Gunilla, I get excited when a nuthatch flies up.

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  11. Lovely pictures. Thanks for sharing your bird.

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    1. Thanks, Linda Kay, I'm grateful to have such cute birds come to eat my seeds.

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  12. Interesting plant..Great bird shots...I'll have to try macro...if I can find it!!

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    1. Thanks, Missy, macro is fun. I want to try some close-up lenses as well to see what they will do.

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  13. Thanks, Nora, I enjoy your Vancouver BC birds.

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  14. Nuthatches are one of my favorite bird species. We mostly see the white-breasted nuthatch at our feeders in West Virginia.
    ~

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  15. The white-breasted nuthatches are cute too. I wish I could photograph some upside-down in a tree.

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  16. Love o see your hoya in bloom, mine is too at the moment.

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    1. Thanks, Arija, it would be great to have a winter home down-under and have tropical blooms now too!

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  17. Dearest Hannah; What an adorable bird Nuthatches is♡♡♡ Really colorful and your pictures are marvelous. I enjoyed your sweet captions as well♪
    Thank you so much for the detailed explanation about Hoya; made me wish to see with my own eyes p:-)
    Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

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    1. Thanks, Miyako, Hoya is probably my favorite houseplant, though I love them all, anything that will stay alive for me. I love to see your photos of the lovely Japanese countryside. Hugs, Hannah

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  18. Hi Hannah. yes some of the birds that visit my garden are so fast I'm thinking about super glueing down their food to the table so as to get pictures. Only joking!

    Hey those last three pics are fine though.

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    1. Thanks, Phil, I decided I should try setting my camera to a really fast speed, but I haven't gotten any nuthatch photos since I changed the speed, but it took a lot of blurry photos to get these. I'm thinking perhaps I should try to take a movie.

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  19. Beautiful Nuthatches, they are brilliant images.

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  20. Our nuthatches aren't quite so colorful. Nutty indeed!

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    1. Thanks, Sharon, I love their bright colors and head stripes. They don't seem at all camouflaged, maybe they are so fast it doesn't matter.

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  21. Such a little beauty! Wonderful shots! The hoya is amazing!

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    1. Thanks, Mary, I just hope to get better photos of the birds someday, though they are a lot better than the photos I was taking. One of the tropical blogs has mind-blowing variations on the Hoyas.

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  22. I would love to smell a hoya one day...and your nuthatches are a bit different than mine, but oh so cute.

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    1. You'll have to get a Hoya. I imagine all nuthatches are cute and fun to watch.

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  23. Thanks, Felicia, it's such fun watching them.

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  24. Nice photos, I love, especially shooting the bird!

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  25. Thanks, Leovi, for every photo there are many that were blurs.;-) I took my camera off Auto and I put it at the fastest speed so maybe I will get some better action shots.

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  26. My favorite shot is the nutty one. The hoyas are beautiful.

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    1. Thanks, Abrianna, the nuthatches are so funny.

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  27. What a lovely series Hannah, and yes that is me and my camera reflected in the bubbles. thanks as always for sharing the love up-close with I Heart Macro:-)

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  28. Thanks, Laura, your poodle is so gorgeous! The bubbles in the water with their reflections are incredible.

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  29. The photos of the birds are wonderful and I enjoyed the captures of your Hoyas. They are such an interesting plant!

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  30. Thanks, Lee, the northeastern birds are probably mostly different from the northwestern birds, though perhaps just different species or varieties, though some birds really get around.

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  31. Great shots, especially the close-up of the Nuthatch with the seed in his beak. The Hoyas are spectacular. Very nice post!

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  32. Birds are so tricky to photograph. You nailed it with this nuthatch. Great job. Your Hoya is gorgeous.

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