Viewing the nesting Anna’s Hummingbirds near Shoreline Lake

One of the hottest bird sighting spots on the Peninsula in recent weeks was a small family of nesting Anna’s Hummingbirds in the East Palo Alto area near Shoreline Lake.

Birders and bird photographers came from all across the Bay Area to see this small family consisting of a Mama female Hummingbird and her two baby chicks.

Word got around very quickly, which led to many birders and bird photographers at the nest location. Rest assured, everyone who came to view the small Hummer family of three, were quiet and respectful and kept their distance beyond the fence overlooking the nest near the end of Terminal Blvd Shoreline Lake trails entrance in Palo Alto.

Sadly for us, the two chicks flew the coop and fledged Easter morning but happily the two little hummer chicks survived during the nesting period. Where they went to and where they go next is anyone’s guess.

Very grateful for the opportunity to witness the growing chicks and to watch how the mama hummer tirelessly took care of them and fed them every 15-20 minutes during the day. Male hummingbirds are known to not participate in the making of the nest or caring for the nesting hummingbird chicks.

The eggs hatched March 5th and chicks fledged March 31st so the chicks spent 27 days in the nest once they hatched.

Huge thanks to my friend Cesar Rodriguez, who initially discovered the hummingbird nest at the beginning of March after seeing the mama hummingbird land in the nest.

These pictures were taken approximately 30 feet away with my Nikon Z8 camera and my Nikkor 500mm f5.6 PF lens.

Editor’s note: Rick’s next walking bird tour is April 19th 9:00 to 11:00 am in East Palo Alto.

Photos by Rick Morris (c) 2024