Most of our hummers have already headed south, though there are still a few holdouts - they'll probably leave within the next week or two. "Chirp/clicks" are cute, but I love that supersonic sounding whooshing sound they make sometimes when they're fighting (all the time!). I'll miss the little bullies, though. At least we'll still have the turkeys...
I just looked up from my coffee to realize that my fierce little friends hadn’t buzzed me yet. So ours may be gone as well, just today. Sigh. Soon the dark-eyes juncoes will fly in from the mountains, and my backyard will be replenished. We had more hummers this year than ever.
We had more humming visitors on August 19th than I'd ever seen in one place before, other than on YouTube videos - by the next morning, we were down to three or four regular visitors. I refilled the feeders last night, as my husband predicted that the last birds would be gone today... and, alas, he was right. I wish them safe travels!
I can still hear, and occasionally see, other birds in the woods around our house, but I don't dare feed them. There are black bears out there, too, just waiting for the silly humans to mess up. They're cute, but their teeth and claws are much sharper than Yogi and BooBoo's. 🐻 There's plenty of natural food out there for the birds.
We live in town, so zero bears. Don’t they try to guzzle from your nectar feeders? I’ve seen plenty of videos of bears who look like alcoholics on benders, sucking down hummingbird juice. And yes, I know birds are capable of feeding themselves. I just can’t quit feeding them, because I love to have them visit. When a scarlet tanager visits the suet cakes I go nuts.
We put out some seed feeders once and they lasted less than 24 hours. I used thistle seed because I'd read on the internet that bears don't like them (and, as usual, the internet was WRONG). This guy sure did love thistle seeds! We took down the feeders and he spent three days stalking around the house hoping for more handouts, so that was the end of setting out the bird feeders. The bears generally leave us alone, though. One raided my strawberry bed, but the donkeys started braying at him and he ran off like the devil was on his heels. Otherwise, I've seen them on the edges of the woods, but they don't tend to come closer. I did see three adorable tiny bear cubs in our driveway, once - those little guys can climb trees like a monkey!
They do seem to leave the hummingbird feeders alone, at least. Maybe the wild grapes and blackberry bushes that we've left growing at the edge of the yard is enough to satisfy them. I do wish we could have regular bird feeders, too, but it's too dangerous to both us and the bears. They probably say it in Colorado, too, but in NH they say a fed bear is a dead bear. 😥
Cornell has a whole bunch of live feed bird feeder footage to feed my fix, at least. And it is cool to see how birds behave without human intervention. But I would love to be able to tempt them closer to the house, so I could see them better.
We did have a woodpecker visit the feeder once, though!
You won’t believe it ‼️ Walked into the livrary and right there, for all to see, was Mary Oliver’s Devotions! I borrowed it right away, although I sure won’t have finished it before its due date.
Peter, your “fondle” cartoon made me giggle! Twice. We know she chose that word with devilish deliberation.
Ah, Mary... nobody like Mary.
It brought me up short when I tripped over it in the poem. But if anybody is allowed to use that word Mary is.
Wow, Mary Oliver is wonderful!
Most of our hummers have already headed south, though there are still a few holdouts - they'll probably leave within the next week or two. "Chirp/clicks" are cute, but I love that supersonic sounding whooshing sound they make sometimes when they're fighting (all the time!). I'll miss the little bullies, though. At least we'll still have the turkeys...
I just looked up from my coffee to realize that my fierce little friends hadn’t buzzed me yet. So ours may be gone as well, just today. Sigh. Soon the dark-eyes juncoes will fly in from the mountains, and my backyard will be replenished. We had more hummers this year than ever.
We had more humming visitors on August 19th than I'd ever seen in one place before, other than on YouTube videos - by the next morning, we were down to three or four regular visitors. I refilled the feeders last night, as my husband predicted that the last birds would be gone today... and, alas, he was right. I wish them safe travels!
I can still hear, and occasionally see, other birds in the woods around our house, but I don't dare feed them. There are black bears out there, too, just waiting for the silly humans to mess up. They're cute, but their teeth and claws are much sharper than Yogi and BooBoo's. 🐻 There's plenty of natural food out there for the birds.
We live in town, so zero bears. Don’t they try to guzzle from your nectar feeders? I’ve seen plenty of videos of bears who look like alcoholics on benders, sucking down hummingbird juice. And yes, I know birds are capable of feeding themselves. I just can’t quit feeding them, because I love to have them visit. When a scarlet tanager visits the suet cakes I go nuts.
I just saw a hummingbird! They haven't ALL left yet! 😁
I can still hope! They were actually looking fairly stout the last week. I knew they were all tanked up for the flight south.
I guess the only ones left by now are the juvenile delinquents.
We put out some seed feeders once and they lasted less than 24 hours. I used thistle seed because I'd read on the internet that bears don't like them (and, as usual, the internet was WRONG). This guy sure did love thistle seeds! We took down the feeders and he spent three days stalking around the house hoping for more handouts, so that was the end of setting out the bird feeders. The bears generally leave us alone, though. One raided my strawberry bed, but the donkeys started braying at him and he ran off like the devil was on his heels. Otherwise, I've seen them on the edges of the woods, but they don't tend to come closer. I did see three adorable tiny bear cubs in our driveway, once - those little guys can climb trees like a monkey!
They do seem to leave the hummingbird feeders alone, at least. Maybe the wild grapes and blackberry bushes that we've left growing at the edge of the yard is enough to satisfy them. I do wish we could have regular bird feeders, too, but it's too dangerous to both us and the bears. They probably say it in Colorado, too, but in NH they say a fed bear is a dead bear. 😥
Cornell has a whole bunch of live feed bird feeder footage to feed my fix, at least. And it is cool to see how birds behave without human intervention. But I would love to be able to tempt them closer to the house, so I could see them better.
We did have a woodpecker visit the feeder once, though!
We're in the birdfeeder weeds now, Jeannine! Birders are weird, but in just the right way.
You won’t believe it ‼️ Walked into the livrary and right there, for all to see, was Mary Oliver’s Devotions! I borrowed it right away, although I sure won’t have finished it before its due date.
So cool 😎 Thank YOU 👏 👍
Thank goodness for the library! Mary has been my boon companion in the morning, helping me focus on what’s important. I wish you the same!
So clever! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to your letter to a dead author/artist.
Coming next Thursday!
I feel like you've been cheating on James by writing these intimate letters to Mary O!
Ha. I’m sure they’re squabbling over my attentions up in Writer Heaven. Or down in Writer Hell, which seems more appropriate.
Yes to Mary Oliver Yes to your post!
She’s the calmest presence in turbulent times. I’ll walk down and look at the pond with her any day. No telling what we might see and feel.
Love this!! Just what I needed this morning. Thank you for sharing and illustrating this beautiful post!!