Winnie and the Winged Wonders

I suppose sooner or later it would come out that I am mildly obsessed with hummingbirds. An impartial observer may say that my obsession is a little bit more than "mild" but we just won't conduct any polls on the matter. I will say that one of our family trips a couple of years ago involved flying out to Arizona for a hummingbird festival. I even got to cross an item off my bucket list - hold a hummingbird in the palm of my hand. I still say that doesn't make me obsessed. It just makes me passionate. Ooh, wait. Interesting. It makes me interesting!

This really all started when I was much younger. Before I had ever even seen an actual hummingbird. I have no idea how it all began. I just remember being fascinated by their diminutive size and their unique flight patterns. By the time I hit my mid twenties, I had experienced an occasional sighting here and there. I vowed if I ever had my own home, I would make it a hummingbird mecca. Think "if you build it, they will come". So when we bought this house nearly 6 years ago I was delighted to discover that the garden at the back of the house had herbs for people, and better still, plants for hummingbirds. It included some plants I had never even heard of. One of my favorite pictures I have ever taken of my birds is a little female feeding on a plant called a Japanese wax bell. I only know this because the good people at my favorite garden spot - Briggs Nursery- identified the flowers from the picture and even special ordered some more for me. (Yes, there are now 3 more of these plants scattered throughout the property, even though initially I thought I didn't like them. Just so you know, I can hear you now. "Yep. Obsessed.")

Slowly I built a garden in the woods for "my babies". As I'm sure you've guessed, merely putting out feeders would not be enough. Our first spring here, the good people of Lowes sent out an idea book which featured this easy to build trellis. Naturally, I just knew my husband was looking for a project. So I suggested (whined until I got my way) that it would be a really sweet birthday project for he and the kids to make me. He happily set out to build this monstrosity and was done in no time at all (Slightly longer than a month. Ish. Also, in thinking about it further, the words he used to describe the unfolding project did not suggest that he was happy at all. More like coerced into a project he didn't have the time for. But this is my memory, so I'll tell it any way I want). I planted a small clipping of honeysuckle which has since blossomed to cover the entire trellis. There's also foxglove, bee balm, weigela, bleeding heart bushes, butterfly bushes and a bunch of other perennials purchased with them in mind. It's a veritable candy store for hummingbirds.

 

Over the years we've added more and more flowers.After all, we have more and more hummingbirds. This is Winnie's first year as an avid bird watcher. Actually, everything is her first this year. I know for sure and for certain that she is my soul in kitten form. She will sit at the window for hours watching and waiting for them to come to the feeders. Now that the weather is warming up (slightly) we can open the windows so she can listen to them chitter back and forth. She doesn't know this yet, but the bank of windows in the family room provides a great place to watch the males court the females. Its still a little early, so she has yet to see them them do their death dives from way up high to millimeters away from the patio, but I am certain she will be glued to the window when they start. Much like she is now, waiting for them to get their late afternoon snack.

There is a mesh sock by one of the feeders full of Wolf's hair that a wide variety of songbirds have been shopping from for nest building materials. These birds hold only a minor curiosity for Winnie. They aren't built for speed and ready to fight over their favorite feeder. They don't hover right outside the window, taunting her with the fact that she cannot get them. The hummingbirds enjoy her antics almost as much as she enjoys them. Though the windows are several feet tall, she stretches out as high as she can to catch the birds. They know that the screen will prevent her from being successful, but I'm not sure she does. I can only imagine the games that will take place when I finally put the window feeder up.

Once again, it is dusk. While this time of the day at the baseball fields brings about the scary bugs, here it is the final feeding frenzy for the hummingbirds before they go to sleep for the night. Winnie and I will snuggle together on the couch to watch the last of their antics for the day. And tomorrow morning, she will wait patiently for someone to open the curtains so she can start another day of watching her birdies.