I had the priviledge of watching the most wonderful DVD titled "First Flight: A Mother Humminbrd's Story". It is the story of a female Black Chinned named Honey as she goes about her duties of motherhood...gathering plant fibres and spider webs to builds and refurbishes her nest on of all places a clothesline stabilized by a clothespin. That in itself was just mind boggling to me. The entire sequence of events was beautifully recorded from laying her eggs, standing firm against predators, right up to the chicks fledging and how mom continued to feed them for a while even after they took their first flight. I can't say enough about this film The film makers Don and Noriko Carroll did a superb job. If you want a 'bird's eye view' into the life of a mother hummer and the first weeks of life of her offspring I highly recommend this DVD. If you have children, grandchildren or nieces and nephews this is a fantastic teaching tool. We have all seen the documentaries on tv. I don't think that they hold a candle to this film. Besdies the wonderful narration the musical sound track that plays in the background is very subtle and soothing.

If you have read and enjoyed the book "A Hummingbird in My House: the Story of Squeak" you will love "First Flight: A Mother Humnmingbird's Story" OK have I grabbed your interest yet? Do you want to know more? Here is the website with information on ordering and you can see clips of the movie too: http://hummingbirdstory.com and if you can't get it now put it on your wish list for a birthday, anniversary, Christmas, Mother's or Father's Day. I promise you that You won't be disappointed.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Penny,

Thank you so much for telling us about this. I just ordered it. Very easy to do as it connects you directly to PayPal!

I haven't read the "Hummingbird in the House" book that you mentioned, although I've heard of it. Is it worth ordering, too? Watching and reading these might tide me over until summer when the hummingbirds come back to East Tennessee!

Thanks again!

Carol R
Tennessee
USDA Hardiness Zone 7
Heat Zone 7

Thanks ,Penny..!..yep i am going to order it also..

Thank you so much for the report.!

alice

...


USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Alice and Carol,
The DVD is excellent and I know you will throughly enjoy it. I thought it added a more personal tone to it than the average nature film about hummers. And Carol, I wasn't able to find "A Hummingbird in My House...." in a local book store but I did find it at the library. It is a very short book that you could read in a day. It too is a very good read.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Penny,

Thanks for providing the link. The trailer was really precious and I can imagine how wonderful the movie is going to be.

Suchie

Without question, this is the finest film of hummer nesting that I've ever seen. If you had a nest outside your breakfast room window, you could not see more or better. Noriko's gentle narrative colors the images as much as the camera captures the real time action. Don demonstrates his mastery of the medium. I congratulate both of them for this unique presentation. I've already watched it 4 or 5 times, finding some new detail with each viewing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

Thank you Penny and Nancy for your fine reviews. We plan to purchase this. We have many hummingbird DVD's that are just mediocre to bad, so we are looking forward to a real winner.




Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

I've read the book and it is a MUST for everyone! Small book and takes little time.

Kay
Zone 3b
Poynette, Wi.

Kathi,
belive me you won't be disappointed in this film at all. Because of the setting I almost felt as though I was actually there taking it all in first hand or maybe it was because I just got so completely wrapped up in the whole story

Kay
Good point about the book. I forgot to mention that. The film is also short so I think that even young children would sit and watch it without getting antsy or bored.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Penny,

Thanks for the tip on the DVD. I just ordered it - very easy with the PayPal link! Can't wait to see the whole thing.

The Black-Chinned Humnmingbird, featured in this DVD (I think), is the western counterpart to the Rubythroat. I think that is what the non-Rufous/Allens hummers are in my photo you may have seen before. But I could be wrong - females and juveniles are tricky and this was taken in SE Arizona in late summer - when anything could show up there!



I think I might have another photo or two with a Black-Chinned from Palm Springs - gotta hunt around for it.

Wilmington, Delaware
USDA zone 7a
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 32

Ron
I really believe that you will thoroughly enjoy this little peak into the personal life of the female Black Chinned as she goes about her daily ruoutine of nest building, and later caring for her tiny offspring. I have only seen the Black Chinned in photos like yours and others so I would be hard pressed to make a determination on any species unless it was an adult male.

Yes the Pay Pal link for online ordering is definitely a plus since so many people do use Pay Pal now.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

I recently had the pleasure of seeing the DVD "First A Mother's Hummingbird Story" which Nancy got for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this delightful work of art. I was quite amazed at the angle shots that the videographer managed to pull off! I thought it was quite clever to set up those special mirrors to allow viewing from above. The narration was slightly humorous with the Asian accent that Noriko Carroll had, but perhaps made the movie that much more enchanting.

What a nice life story of Black-chinned Hummingbirds! Quite a treat! I recommend this DVD to all hummer lovers!

Tom Trenchard
Covington, LA

Great article in today's local paper about Don and Norika Carroll. Love it!

http://www.lvrj.com/news/54107057.html

Dana 8a/ 11 Sunset
Southern Nevada

Is that one pic in the article a Hummingbird feeder? The long blue tube??

Pam NJ 6B

This is the most wonderful DVD!! I ordered it after Penny posted this originally. I've never seen anything like it. It's just amazing. I really think even if you feel like you've read and seen everything possible about hummingbirds that you would love this DVD. I don't have the book but may order it too. Penny, I meant to come back here and post after I watched the DVD. Thank you so much for mentioning it!

Pam, yes the blue bottle is a hummingbird feeder. It looks huge!

Carol

Carol R
Tennessee
USDA Hardiness Zone 7
Heat Zone 7

I really hope that everyone who did order the DVD enjoyed it as much as I did. It was really very well done. I have watched it a couple of times and then set it up so my stepdaughter could watch it with me when she came over. It is also great for kids because it isn't too long where a child might get antsy and lose interest.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

I will be looking for this DVD. Thank You

Yes, the long blue tube is an old blue glass bottle. I think the camera angle makes it look bigger, though; it's closer to the camera. Beautiful, though! I'd love to visit them on their porch...

Dana 8a/ 11 Sunset
Southern Nevada

I just found this thread & I ordered the DVD. If I can pry it out of my own hands, I will send it to my niece's children, who live in Singapore. They have seen a few hummingbirds when visiting their grandmother here in WA. I sometimes send them hummer pics that have been posted here on the forum - they should love this DVD. Thanks Penny, for bringing it to our attention.

Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Patrick, you should have ordered two.

Carol

Carol R
Tennessee
USDA Hardiness Zone 7
Heat Zone 7

Patrick
I am sorry that you missed the initial post but you will absolutely love the video. The story is so well done and it is short enough to keep children interested. I have watched it myself several times.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Wow...it arrived in today's mail...that was fast. I don't have time to watch it right now, but can probably do so this evening.

Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Ok...I couldn't wait! I just finished watching the video...it's great! I've quickly scanned the posts on this thread & didn't find a comment from anyone - have you noticed our Nancy Newfield listed in the credits at the end?!


Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

I noticed Nancy was in the credits too, Patrick. I'm glad you watched it. I remember it instantly arrived when I ordered it, too. I just ordered the book from Amazon. I thought I'd like to have that as well as the video.

Carol

Carol R
Tennessee
USDA Hardiness Zone 7
Heat Zone 7