I have enjoyed feeding hummingbirds for many years and was surprised to host so many of the tiny visitors this year. Perhaps it was the drought and the ready availability of a refreshing drink that drew them in. They would drain my feeder dry in a day. At times I would even see four feeding simultaneously – a first that I tried hard to capture on camera but alas it was not to be. Hummingbirds don’t share their space easily, and one extremely territorial little guy soon started successfully taking on all comers.
I named him “Rambo.”
I tried various distractions on Rambo but nothing seemed to work. Finally I hung another feeder at the back of the house, behind the summer kitchen, on the clothesline post, well out of Rambo’s sight - so the other birds would at least have a chance of getting a sip.
About this time we were preparing to go on vacation to a family wedding in Kentucky and then on to Myrtle Beach to visit our daughter. Our friend Mark who rents our summer kitchen had agreed to bring in the mail and the paper and to take care of the dog and cat. Having gone vacationless for two or three years while we changed careers and dwellings, I guess I must have been manifesting some serious separation anxiety because Mark commented to a mutual friend that I would probably leave little reminders and notes for him all over the house. So the night before we left, Mark commented, “Guess what I saw outside my window this morning - a hummingbird feeder! Is that your reminder for me to feed the hummingbirds?”
Actually, I thought it was rather sweet. :)
(And true to character - lol! I had left hummingbird brew in the fridge, intending to tell him to refill the feeders. )
Hummingbird Wars
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