Posted on 09/20/2006 4:01:07 PM PDT by SJackson
Al Batt, Hartland, Minn., (Freeborn County)
Flowers are gifts that continue to bring us happiness and memories long after they have left us.
Flowers also attract hummingbirds to our yards. A flower would earn its keep if it did nothing else.
Hummingbirds and butterflies have been described as flying flowers.
There is something about seeing hummingbirds coming to the sugar water feeders that I put up each summer and fall. Don't get me wrong - I cherish the goldfinches clinging to the niger seed feeder and the Mourning Doves feeding on the ground under our feeding station. The inquisitive chickadees never fail to brighten my day. I enjoy the brashness and the blue of the blue jays, but there is something about the hummingbirds. Maybe it is the distance they migrate, flying more than 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico. This is a remarkable feat by a bird that weighs no more than a quarter.
We are getting the last taste of summer. It is the weather that tells us this, not the calendar. The nights are growing cool and the weather reports are autumn-like. I watch a hummingbird feed on the sweet water. He has declared the feeder to be his territory and spends his day chasing any intruders away. Even with his testy personality, I can't help but like him. One day, I will awaken and the seasons will have changed and my hummingbird will be gone.
My father-in-law and I shared a love for hummingbirds. He put up a number of feeders and rejoiced when the birds arrived.
My father-in-law was a retired farmer and an ex-Marine (ex is probably not correct, as I have found that once a Marine, always a Marine). The ancient Aztecs believed in reincarnation. They believed that hummingbirds were so courageous that only the bravest of warriors had a chance of coming back as a hummingbird.
Maybe that's why my father-in-law liked hummingbirds - they could have been Marines, too.
I remember the day well. I was hosting a cruise on the Pelican Breeze, a wonderful boat that floats regularly on beautiful Albert Lea Lake. In the midst of the cruise, I spotted Mayo One, the helicopter/ambulance, leaving Albert Lea, Minn., on its flight to St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester. I made mention to the boat's passengers of the fine service the helicopter provides, how it gets to Rochester in about 20 minutes and how fortunate we are to have such a thing in the area.
I also talked of how I can never see the flying ambulance without experiencing a touch of sadness and a feeling of emptiness in the pit of my stomach, knowing that the life of someone and the lives of his loved ones would be changed dramatically.
Little did I know that the patient who was a passenger on that helicopter was
my father-in-law.
Fall comes too soon. I don't want summer to end. I want to feel the warmth in my bones and the soft breezes on my skin. I want to smell the sun shining on mowed hay. I want to continue to hear the sounds of summer - the morning chorus of birds and the cicada choir practice.
At this time of year I don't remember the nearly unbearable heat and humidity or the bloodthirsty mosquitoes of summer. I remember the rains - not the heavy ones, but the gentle and polite ones. I forget the weeds and remember the flowers.
I watch my hummingbird guarding his food supply and I think of my father-in-law's fight for his life.
"Please stay," I say silently to the hummingbird buzzing around the feeder. "Please stay with me a little longer. Don't leave yet. I haven't known you long enough."
I remember saying the very same things to my father-in-law as he laid in that hospital bed fighting for his life. He lived through Iwo Jima and the raising of four teenagers, but his heart had worn out.
My wonderful father-in-law has been gone for some time now. The hummingbird's visits are delightful reminders of his goodness.
"Please linger. Allow me to hold fast to your presence through fall and into the winter."
Summer leaves well before it has worn out its welcome. So do hummingbirds and fathers-in-law.
"Please let me remember the songs of your birds when the snow covers the ground."
That's a warm story. Thanks for finding and posting it.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel.
also Keywords 2006israelwar or WOT [War on Terror]
----------------------------
And now I'll ping the correct list.
I live in Michigan, and I have never seen a hummingbird. Maybe I should put out a feeder next year.
My favorite bird is the cardinal, and they live here all year round.
Probably global warming, I'll write the government.
Al Batt is, or used to be, an insurance broker. He got me a great deal on auto insurance and I bought from him for a few years in the early 90's. (Back when my regular company wanted $110 a month for liability only on my $100 car due to a couple measly tickets.) I met him once at the Freeborn County fairgrounds in Albert Lea a few years ago, but we didn't have much of a chance to talk. Nice feller, though.
I'm big into bird feeding too, having inherited the desire and some of the equipment from my recently deceased dad. It was 33 degrees here early this morning, but a hummingbird is still here, drinking the nectar. We used to see three or four at a time during the hot weather but now it's just an occasional quick sighting of one. I'll leave the feeder up until it's been a week since I've seen one.
Summer's almost gone, but with it comes hunting season; warm apple crisp, fresh from the oven; a renewed appetite for homemade soup and chili; and my wife's wonderful chicken or beef pot pie.
September 15 through Halloween is my favorite time of year. April 15 to early June runs a close second, but that will be here soon enough.
I had no idea there were so many h-birds around here until we put out a feeder in early June. Three and four of the speedy little buggers at a time squabbling over the feeder. They'll fly right up and land on your shoulder if you stand still enough near the feeder. They sound like huge mosquitoes or bees when they fly.
Feeders are cheap ($8.95 for an ArtLine oriole feeder...looks like a big orange, with 3 perches and feeding ports). Having them out by late April or early May should be early enough. The h-birds don't show up until some flowers start blooming in the spring. We put up one of the red hummingbird feeders and one of the orange oriole feeders, but the hands-down favorite was the orange one. They hardly touched the red one, so I took it down.
Don't bother buying that pre-made red hummingbird nectar, either. The h-birds and orioles (around here, anyway) vastly prefer homemade nectar. Just mix one part sugar with four parts water, stir it and bring to a full boil for a couple minutes, let it cool, pour it into a clean milk jug and throw it in the fridge. Three cups of sugar and twelve cups of water fills a kettle and a milk jug nicely, and lasts us about ten days during peak feeding time.
Don't make more than you'll use in a couple weeks, and don't fill the feeder with more than the birds will drink in three days or so. The stuff spoils in the hot sun and gets stale in the fridge. Before refilling the feeder, rinse it out well with good hot tap water and your ready to go. A little WD-40 sprayed on the base of the pole keeps ants from climbing it and getting in the feeder, but needs to be reapplied after a rain. Bees are a nuisance in the fall, but they don't drink much. Just make sure you don't carry any live ones indoors when you bring the feeder in to wash and refill.
There are lots of bird feeding supply sites on the net, and local garden centers, home stores and feed shops have tons of stuff too. The Michigan DNR website probably has advice for your area as well, I know Minnesota's does.
This was my first summer of serious bird feeding and it was a blast. I buy all my seeds separately and make my own blends according to what they like best around here. Give it a try, it's an easy and inexpensive hobby, once you have all the feeders you want, that is.
I only put up feeders in the early spring - don't have to worry about nectar in the flowers spoiling. The flowers will linger longer than the hummingbirds here in NJ. There was a little hummingbird today preening itself in a tree, and then going after the salvias - coccinea and 'Black and Blue' - easy long-blooming plants here.
I'll miss them this winter. Mid-April I'll start looking; mid-February I'll be watching the on-line map.
Mrs VS
There's an online map?
I also saw a pileated woodpecker in Muskegon...incredible bird!
I saw one at Greenfield Village.
There are some downy woodpeckers in my yard, but I haven't seen them all summer. They feed in the winter when I hang out a suet block for them.
I've always wanted to go out west to see their great variety of hummers.
Does someone on FR have a bird-watchers ping list?
Beautiful!
Wow!
Amazing to see them so newly hatched!
Nothing looks so frail as a baby bird!
I can't imagine not ever seeing a humming bird. You haven't been looking. I have seen them in downtown Lansing. We have feeders and we have hummingbirds that come every year. There were two a couple of years ago. They did not come back but one replaced it. I love to watch them fight off an intruder. They are the coolist birds of all the birds but I like all birds.
http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html
Online spring migration map here. or do a search on "hummingbird migration map" next spring.
Mrs VS
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.