Hummingbird story...

[thistlebloom]

While at work last week I was bent over a pot of herbs and a hummer zoomed right under the bill of my ball cap and checked out my glasses!

And a few years back we had a hummer in the garage trying to escape out the window. She had apparently been in there for some time because she seemed tired. We opened the drive thru door but she continued flying up and down in front of the window.
My son put his finger out in front of her and she landed on it and let him walk her outside. He was so thrilled!

 

[so lucky]

When the hummers are in a full feeding frenzy, my husband has been known to stand very still with a finger just touching and along side the perch on the feeder. As the birds buzz all around him, chattering and chasing each other, A hummer will sit on his finger to rest, and drink, not even realizing the finger wasn't there before. That is very cool to watch. I'm too antsy to stand still that long, myself.

 

[lesa]

Loving all these hummingbird stories! Such a tiny bird, with a lot of personality! I posted last summer of my experience actually holding one. Early in the cool weather of the morning, I found one resting on the windowsill in my back staircase. Not sure how it got in there.... It was so tiny, I thought it was a moth, or butterfly. I scooped it up and took it onto to the deck, thinking I would set it in a planter- in case it couldn't fly. The second I opened my hand it headed for the woods!!! What a joy it was!!

 

[ninnymary]

O.K....now my bubble is bursted. I thought I was the only one to touch a hummingbird. :/

Mary

 

[lesa]

Oh, Mary you are too cute!!

 

[topotheridge]

Every spring around the same time, we get a humming bird that hovers in our covered porch window. I dutifully run (yes they have me trained) and get my feeder mix up some sugar water and cool it as quickly as possible to get it to them. My husband laughs at me but tells me quickly that the hummingbirds are back each spring.

 

[so lucky]

Talk about being trained!: We had a rufous hummer show up at our feeder in November last year. (I was experimenting with leaving it up for late migrators) We don't even normally have rufous here in SE Missouri. Well, that little rufous stayed through several snow storms, howling winds, near-zero temps, horizontal rains, you name it. He trained me to rotate the feeders, keeping one thawed out for him at all daylight times. I could hear him scolding me if I didn't have the feeder there when he arrived at first light. He then trained me to put up a light with a reflector, so the nectar would stay thawed during our midwest winter nights. We have photos of him on the feeder with snow all around. We e-mailed Happy New Year photo greetings from Rufous to our friends. He left on Febuary 1st. I hope he made it somewhere warm. I refuse to think otherwise. Oh, in case you are wondering if I kept him from migrating by feeding him, the experts I checked said "no, nothing keeps them from going when their clocks tell them it's time to fly south". (I hope I haven't told you all this before. We oldsters tend to do that!)

 

[lesa]

Wow, so lucky- that is a cool hummingbird story! Of course, we only see the ruby throated here...

 

[thistlebloom]

You really are So Lucky aren't you? That's a great story!
My mom had a confused hummer one year (So. Cal.) that built a nest outside the window in December. Fortunately she didn't lay any eggs, cuz I'm sure the man hummers were long gone.