Yes!
I’m talking to you!
“Please Be Kind”
said this smart and considerate hummingbird:
This now new world order
requires an invisible physically distant border
around you and me and everyone we see
along with a mask to stay disease-free.
Most humans are kind and care
a few, though rare
really let their tempers flare
they shout …
they pout …
they flout …
demand …
their freedom … their rights …
across the land.
Us against them … them against us
is it really worth the fuss?
Too many lost their lives already around the globe
so please don’t be a Maskophobe!
So please be kind and wear a mask.
We’re all in this together!
🙂
in cahoots with muddy boots 
What a beautiful post in every way!
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Thank you Cindy! 🙂
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We are all in this together indeed just as all our world and all its beings are interconnected. Let us all help one another in every way we are able.
Namaste 🙏
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Yes indeed!
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Thank you, Sabine. There is something special about hummingbirds, how they buzz you and draw you into a vibrant realm you’d been missing out on. I will learn to listen better. I want to hear them speak. THANK YOU!!
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You are very welcome, Trish! I just had one of the hummers fly right up to my face again as if saying ‘doesn’t the sunshine and clean air feel good’. Staying home has definitely been made more bearable having these guys come visit every day.
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Glad to hear from U again! The photos are glorious and the thoughts attributed to the bird are spot on. Where I live in New York, nearly everybody goes along with the mask and distance mandates. That’s part of why my state is coping better than many others in the pandemic.
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Hi Mel! Most Oregonians are really good about masking up and keeping their distance now. But there are always the exceptions of course. And from those people I just keep a very healthy distance. 😉 But I have to admit that having a nice garden to work and relax in and watch hummingbirds is a big plus! Stay healthy and happy!
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It is so nice to see you back! Your photos are stunning!
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Thank you, Kitschig! Watching the hummers has been my pandemic guilty pleasure.
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Lucky you… mine was more on the scale of eating …
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Well, I’ll save that for a Tasty Tuesday! 😂
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Good to see you again, Sabine. I love these photos of the hummer. And your fun words of encouragement to wear a mask. I call it a ‘love thy neighbor’ gesture.
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Hey LuAnne! I’m glad that most of the people in our area are sensible enough to mask up. The hummers have been one of the highlights of my summer at home! Glad to see you’re still here as well. 🙋♀️
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What a pleasant surprise to find as I was catching up with my emails! And an important and well delivered message!
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I’m glad you enjoyed finding this in your email. Hope you guys are well!
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I am happy to see you and hummingbirds in my Reader feed Sabine. I was perpetually behind after trying to catch up over the weekend so just now enjoying this post. These beautiful up-close and personal hummingbirds are so delightful to see. Lucky you that they will stay a little longer, if not over the Winter perhaps? This is my first year for putting up feeders and I understand the migration of the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds will happen at the end of the month in this order: males, females and youngsters. I am glad the smoke has cleared for you to enjoy the hummingbirds. It’s a great guilty pleasure to watch them.
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Some of our hummingbirds do stay over the winter. I don’t put out feeders though. Some of our neighbors do. I prefer to let them forage on the flowers. My pineapple sage blooms much of the winter unless it gets really cold and the hummers visit those shrubs frequently. I’m glad you are getting some hummingbirds visiting you!
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I am going to plant some real flowers next year to lure them Sabine. I have read the hummers like Trumpet vines. My neighbor has a Trumpet vine near where I have the feeders. He cut it to the ground in the Spring and it is an old vine with a large trunk. It grew again, leafed out and I was cutting it down on my side where it goes over the fence since he does not like it. Ants were getting into the feeders. So I moved the feeders which I hope she noticed. I hated doing that but I didn’t want the ants contaminating the nectar.
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Our hummers love just about all flowers. They even feed on some of the flowering weeds! My neighbor has a beautiful honeysuckle that grows over the fence and the hummers love it. I let it grow and when it gets to unwieldy I just trim it. They used to have a trumpet vine as well but took it out years ago. As for the ants on your feeder, there are little attachments you can get that create a water moat to help prevent ants. I’ve never been able to keep them at bay when I used a feeder many many years ago. I’m sure you’ll find a solution that works for your garden.
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That is good to know Sabine. I have been following a few websites this Summer to learn more about hummingbirds. I bought the feeders which are called “high perch feeders” for optimal viewing. They resemble a donut in that they have a moat in the middle of the feeder. Also it was recommended that this was good as it has a clear bottom area so you can see the hummer feeding from the perch or hovering. And, best of all it is very easy to clean as it’s only the two pieces. I got some tiny bottle brushes to clean the ports which I ordered from Amazon. I initially bought and placed the plastic nectar tips on each of the ports, but took them off as there were no hummers and I thought maybe they had trouble piercing the plastic to get to the food. I have several packages of them, so next Summer I’ll have to try them again. Once I decided to not trim my side of the fence with the trumpet vine, it grew very quickly and was full of ants and they were making a path to the feeder. It never flowered as I had been trimming it back. Perhaps I need to get a second moat to hang above? I was getting carpenter ants not just small ants toward the end. I saw the hummer the very first time sipping from a weed with pink flowers!
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An acquaintance once told me that she has several hummingbird feeders. She makes the nectar, fills them up and then freezes a couple of them. When it’s time to change them she puts the old one in the dishwasher and hangs out one from the freezer. That way she doesn’t have to think about preparing them and cleaning up. I don’t know if she had ant problems. I know I would if I put a feeder out. I think Portland was built on an anthill!
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That is a good way to do it Sabine. This year I used the powdered mixture that I bought from Wild Birds Unlimited when I got the feeders. The mixture was in a pouch and you mixed it with 32 ounces of water and put it in a 32-ounce bottle. I did this as the glass stovetop still has my laptop on it waiting on our computer guy to tie the laptops … so this was easier but next year I’m going to just boil the sugar water. I have a severe lack of plugs in my house. And who knew that equipment ordered in March 2019 still goes unused and in the way?
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Beautiful 🙏🏻
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Thanks Missy! I hope all is well with your family! 🙋♀️
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We are doing well, surviving all of the craziness. We do have much clearer skies, which has been nice. I hope you’re ok, too. 😊
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Same here! We’re hanging in there and are grateful for the cleaner air.😊
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Beautiful photos and great poem.
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Thank you for reading and leaving a kind comment! 😊
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your female Anna’s has a great message for all of us Sabine!
Personally I think there are too many people. The constant competition is grinding down our patience.
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This Anna’s hummingbird is the one that often flies right up to me and starts to chatter. She is not nearly as shy as some of the others that visit. And yes, there are too many people encroaching on the rest of the living creatures on this earth.
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that chattering is her telling you off. They do not when someone is too close. If she gets use to you she will stop chattering.
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I’m aware she’s telling me off!😉 Most often she does it when I’m near her favorite nectar sources. They are such fascinating creatures!
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record her and play it back louder to see what she does?
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I will do that! Last time she complained I did record it. But I was only fast enough to do so because she went on and on. What a character!
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invent a machine to convert bird talk into English! I bet she’d be saying “WHO ARE YOU TO COME NEAR “MY” FEEDER! GO AWAY!!!
If you put a mannequin beside the feeder,she’d get use to it. When you want to get close simply take the mannequin away and stand there. As long as you don’t move she won’t complain I bet!
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I’ll get right on that, Wayne! 😉 Mostly the hummers are pretty social and come over to check us out. Sitting still is always good and also wearing a hoodie.
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yes,I have found a few complainers as well. I tell them to go away and come back another day!
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