I’m frustrated…I haven’t seen a hummingbird all year…I know…I have butterflies…I have bumblebees…I have mockingbirds…I should be content…
I’m not…
In all honesty…I haven’t had a feeder out…but…I have lots of reddish blossoms…which…have fed plenty of hummers…in years past…I know…I should have had a feeder…and…I used to have several…but…they eventually bit the dust…and I just didn’t feel like replacing them last year…
So…I decided…it was time…a bought a new feeder…a cheapie…it leaked…can
you say…ants…I threw it away…okay…lesson learned…I bought a better quality feeder…with four…spouts…I filled it with the nicest sugar water…you’d ever want to sip…and…I waited…and…I waited…and…I waited…and…nothing…nada…not nary a hummingbird in sight…
In years past…I could barely hang a new feeder…before the territorial wars had begun…I call them…hummingbuzzards…because…they are just downright mean when it comes to fighting over feeding rights…I’ve even been dive bombed by one of two…in the past…but…I digress..
Where…were the hummers…I did what I had to do…I Googled…and…for the first time…it let me down…evidently…there were no scholarly articles written…about the lack of hummingbirds in my small town in the summer of 2012…go figure…
Let down by Google…I did the next best thing…I Facebooked…that’s right…I posed my question as a status update…I could remember a friend doing that earlier in the year…only to come back later in the same day…to report a sighting…call me superstitious…I thought it might work for me…
It didn’t…
I got several comments…from local friends…who also reported having empty feeders…all season…with only an occasional hummer being sighted…one friend in Canada…did report that she has plenty…and will send some my way…I wonder how long it will take them to get to Alabama…hmmm…
I also got an interesting comment…from a friend…who said her young son…once asked her where the hummingbirds were…and she told him he needed to go outside and hum and they would come…surely enough…the next day they were there…she said she didn’t tell him until he was a teenager that it wasn’t the humming that brought them…
Hmmm…or…should I say…hum…you know I did…I’ve been outside…humming…and…inviting all the hummingbirds to come to my feeder…
So far…I’ve seen a rabbit…and…a squirrel…hmmm…maybe…I’m humming the wrong tune…Bertha…says…no…that I’m just off key…
What can I say…she’s right…but…at least…she didn’t relate it to my life…and…I think I’ll stop…before she does…besides…I’ve got some more humming to do…
Jane
Lots of hummers at Sage Hill…we have trees across the road that they love…and live in-if you look closely you can see them moving around constantly. I’ll leave a note with addy to your place:)
Happy Thursday beautiful friend !
Bea…thanks so much for sending some my way…I should have driven them when I visited last week! It’s just strange…that they don’t seem to be around this year…Mother has had very few…and many of my friends haven’t had any…I really wonder if the warm winter got them off their migration path…Sandra says she has plenty in Canada…
Happy Thursday to you as well!
When I first saw the title at a quick glace I thought it said, “Where have all the humans gone”. sorry! lol, will put on my glasses now. have a good day and nice article!
LOL…Wendy…maybe that’s what the hummingbirds are saying…as they flutter in a parallel universe…oops…a new story line…thanks for visitng and commenting…have a great day!
I’m a big city girl who has lived in New York City all my life. I’ve seen humming birds only once. Back in 1988 I took a missionary trip to Haiti with one of the pastors of my church, and we regularly saw what’s called the “Dakka Bird”. It is a variety of a humming bird which has very long tail feathers. In fact that’s how you notice them, because their tail feathers would flash as they flit from one flower to the next. It was a pity I couldn’t get photos of those beautiful birds, because they are so quick.
Nancy…I can’t imagine not seeing hummingbirds…I’m just a small town/country girl…but…I love the description oh the “Dakka Bird”…it is a pity that you didn’t get a picture…I would love to see one! Thanks for visiting and sharing your story…
No hummingbirds here in Atlanta either. However, we do have a ton of fireflies already this year.
I haven’t noticed fireflies, Tamy…but I have now seen three hummingbirds…or one three times…who knows? I did read that due to the mild winter they may have overshot their return flight this year, stopping when they reached expected temperatures. Not sure…hopefully next year. Enjoy your fireflies…they just make a summer evening on the porch!