Monday, July 6, 2009

Training Hummingbirds


OK, speaking of hummingbirds . . . we haven't had as many this year as last (maybe they are in your yard?) so we figure there is some competition, and we have been trying to spruce up our yard to entice the birds to visit; rotten banana hung in a tree to attract and nourish the fruit flies they like to eat and an additional adjacent feeder which I know will make them competitive, but at least we will see them. Anyway, last night, Stewart went to Wild Birds Unlimited to get a feeder that has a perch around the edge. I overfilled the feeder so now it is dripping nectar . . . the female shows up and she can't figure it out! She flies under it and tries to catch the drips, catches a few and gives up. She must have gone home to get Pops because he was back in less than 60 seconds. I can hear it now, "You can't figure it out!? Let ME handle this!" So, Pops comes by and is looking at the top red portion this time, but there are no obvious markings to say, "Drink here" . . . he buzzes for awhile and gives up. At this point I find myself going over to my trumpet shaped calibrachoa flowers, picking them off the vine and fashioning them into funnels so that I can place the funnel-flowers into the narrow openings in the feeder to train the hummingbirds! It is at this moment that I wish I could call my Mother, who passed away a week ago, as she would have laughed until she cried at their antics and my solution.

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