Cold Night, Sleepy Hummer

Last night brought the first freeze of the season (note the frost cloth draped over the Meyer Lemon tree in the background). I always worry about the resident Anna's Hummingbirds on nights like this, they don't migrate so they have to endure these long freezing nights by going into torpor, a state in which their metabolism is drastically reduced. It's almost like a state of suspended animation and it makes them vulnerable since they are slow to come out of it. They need to fill up with nectar before they find a place to roost at night and then they need to feed as soon as they awaken. I've been filling the feeder that hangs outside my kitchen window almost every evening, it's rare that it isn't empty by then. Note the level of nectar in the feeder shown in the photos below, the feeder was filled the evening before and was 90 percent full first thing in the morning and was reduced to the level shown in little over an hour.

This little gal seemed to have a hard time waking up this morning, 

she reminded me of what I must look like hugging my full mug of coffee in the morning, 

only I don't fluff my feathers to stay warm, 

not that I'm not prickly...

She seems to have been one of the last of the bunch to wake up,

the feeder was already abuzz with a dozen or so hummers a good hour earlier at first light.

For some reason another hummer found the port she was occupying to be tastier than the other (vacant) ports.

She didn't budge.

Some of the rest of the gang came along while she was still trying to wake up.

And then an aggressive male came along and decided to clear everyone else out.

The sleepy one was rather reluctant to go, even after the bully bonked her on the head with his beak...

The feeder was completely empty well before noon, so I treated the hummers to an early refill since I'm spending lots of time in the kitchen today getting a head start on Thanksgiving dinner and I can't resist the show.