If you observe Anna’s hummingbirds for awhile, you'll see them collecting spider webs and lichens for their nests, picking insects off of plants and even catching them midair with all of the maneuvers you'd expect from birds capable of flying backwards. They're the only ones who can do that without help from wind. I recently paused along Peñasquitos Creek one evening to watch this male adding some protein to his diet.

Nesting out back in the big Peruvian peppertree is another Anna's. It's the one plant on the slope I didn't replace with a local native. All of my plantings are doing great with many sages and bladderpod already in flower to nourish the hummingbirds and others. I hope she and her young luck out with the invasive Argentine ants. A nesting attempt on our property line last year ended with the hatchlings being swarmed shortly after the eggs hatched. The California Argentine ant supercolony thrives on our addiction to incessant irrigation.