Hummingbirds

Ah, hummingbirds! Who doesn't like them? Well, given six billion plus people on this Earth, I suppose there are one or two.

Off and on, when I was outside, I noticed one or two hummingbirds around the house, so I went out and bought a hummingbird feeder, four stations, with little places for them to sit, no waiting. Well, within one week there were ten to twelve of the little creatures, all wanting to suck up the fake nectar (one part sugar to four parts water . . . and you don't have to boil it). It was fun watching all the macho territorial displays and hearing all the squeaks and peeps and whatnot sounds that they make, and to watch them zip here and zoom there, either chasing or being chased away from the feeder.

I also found out, on the Internet, that the sugar water is, like the nectar of flowers, just an energy drink to them. It's not their main food source. It seems the fascinating little birds eat soft-bodied insects like flies and mosquitoes, spiders also. That's where they get their protein and fats. Yea hummers! Get those nasty ol' bugs.

I also like to water the little patch of lawn we have, by hand. I like doing it early, just as the sun is coming up. It's cool and quiet then. Imagine my surprise two weeks ago when a hummer came zooming up in front of me, just withing the spray area of my spray nozzle. Then it flew quickly to a dead branch on a nearby oak tree, about ten feet away. I got the message and shot a fine spray up into the air where it fell gently on the little bird. It loved it! It sat there for almost three minutes, preening, spreading its wings, shifting its body. It was an amazing site. When I got tired of watering the dead tree branch and shifted the spray back down to the grass, the hummingbird flew off.

Well it happened again today, twice. The first incident happened in exactly the same place and in the same way. When I eventually got back to watering the grass and was on a different patch, just a couple of minutes later, the hummingbird came back. (Actually, there is no way that I can tell if it is the same bird or not. I'm just assuming it is.) It flew into the hose spraying area then up into the same tree, but at a different and higher location. So I sprayed it again for about two minutes. I saw another hummer sitting to the left and even higher and decided to spray it too. Evidently, it didn't want a shower, as it flew away.

Okay, no big deal. Bit of nature that I wasn't aware of. But I liked it. I will look forward to giving out more hummingbird showers in the future. Cool!