The approaching end
of hummingbird season
Many things drawing to a close…
but the most poignant for me is knowing that some morning soon there will be fewer jeweled darts in the air. We are delighted to have had a terrific flock of hummingbirds this year — haven’t had nearly as many last few years, after lots in a few earlier ones. This year they were too many to count, a true pleasure throughout the summer. As it’s getting cold now, chilly at least; they should move on soon, but at the moment they’re still eating us out of house and home. They always nest in a few lowering branches of our middle-aged white oaks.1 For the first time this year they overflowed to at least one tiny home in a hardy hibiscus - a smart couple who staked out their high ground with a more exclusive straight shot at the front feeder.
I’m always intending to grow more natural attractors, but since most of the point is to watch them, it’s not my top priority. We have feeders in our most advantageous spots: framed by the big front window, visible from several angles downstairs; outside the kitchen sink window on the other side of the house, and they tend to be active around morning and evening meal prep timing; and on the shady oak side by the breezeway. Placement of our fourth feeder, on the back of the garage, was a happy accident in many ways. We installed a pulley to raise it higher while keeping it easy to change out, and a bird’s eye view makes a triangular sporting field from the front of the breezeway to the back of the garage and kitchen window. Our birds leave their summer home to go south with months of daily experience being kept and keeping their buddies alert, dodging and whizzing, hovering and guarding, and of course chittering.2 With the high garage feeder available, the bold ones zip around quite close while I’m working in the backyard. From the kitchen:
The garage feeder is lower than normal in this clip, the red spot in the background that’s part of the acrobatics. The breezeway roof is only the height of the garage soffit, so the feeder on the front of that area is easily in (bird)sight and part of the game.
The tomatoes are done, cukes still putting them out despite the plants looking awful, sweet potatoes terribly overgrown since I haven’t been at all attentive to harvest their highly nutritious leaves, and peanuts doing ridiculously well. Okra really hitting its stride and will keep on till winter. Pecans not dropping yet although the crows are ready; squirrels are getting fat on pears, for the time being. We didn’t get a lot of apples to eat but enough to be encouraging, and I’ve read a lot more and learned what needs to be done next year (much) earlier in the season. Alpine strawberries will have their second season soon in this cooler weather. And the regular season for figs has been tremendous again. We’ve already canned 12 pounds and expect the same again already; I have to scrounge for extras because the fig preserves are such a hit but too sweet for me. That’s my secret reason for starting extra trees (still in pots).
Too many projects, too little time!
Inside joke. Two giant oaks near the old house often impress visitors, until they round the corner and see the real giant on the back slope. They’re all more than 150 years old, if we’re counting.
If you’re never heard the chitter, honestly it always reminds me of Flipper. https://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/files/includes/sounds/hummingbirdhey.mp3