Off The Beaten Path

My photo
Georgia, United States
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never ever the same.

Friday, September 14

Hummers

My morning ritual consists of coffee on the porch and watching my hummingbirds buzz and swoop in search of a free meal. The flower above is a type of Salvia, which is a second cousin to sage. If you brush close by it you will smell the musky aroma of sage brush. Salvia thrive in hot dry conditions, so my salvia do not do as well here in the southern humidity as they did on the edge of the California desert. I have about six or seven hummers who are living here in the yard and are carbo loading for their trip further south once the cold weather socks in around us. But for now, they are content to stay in my garden and empty my hummingbird feeders with an occasion taste of nectar from my hisbiscus and salvia. I will miss the hummers when they have flown away, which they do quite suddenly. One morning they will just be gone, until next spring. They have given me hours of entertainment each morning, all summer long.

9 comments:

Lee said...

I already have the salvias. I do have some small birds but the big birds dominate at present. That will change as the shrubs become bushier and give better hiding places for the little ones. Something to look forward to.

Lo Kelween said...

lovely.:) if only we have them here. The most we have, are crows.

Neoma said...

Hi Lee, so glad that you came by, I have to kind of wait to rebuild my links, as I lost them with the old blog. Some I have found, others I haven't. But I am slowly rebuilding.

We are just about heading into winter now, soon there won't be any birds, not till the spring.

Neoma said...

Hello elween, they are such a tiny little bird, they are only a couple of inches long, and they hover. They move their wings so fast, they wings don't even show up in the picture, do they. I just love them, I have had the most this year of any year. I counted eight at one time. They are hard to count though because they don't exactly stay still for being counted. haha

Akelamalu said...

I wish we had hummers. Lovely picture Nea. x

Cindy said...

I used to think they were these dainty little things...right. They can be downright aggressive! I had to move my lawn chair away from "their" flowers because they kept buzzing too close to my head!

Neoma said...

Hi Akela, they are staying quite late this year. Usually by now they have left for the year, but it is just now cooling off some.

Hi Cindy, they are very aggressive. People often think they are very sweet....and they are, in a very aggressive sort of way. haha. If you sit to close to their food supply they dive bomb your head. I have often wondered if they could impale you with their beak....I have seven or eight out there most days, and they spend more time fighting than eating and I have seven feeders spaced around the yard. I dominant one tries to protect them all....he keeps pretty busy...haha

Anonymous said...

Nea -- thanks for the link! I'll put you in my google reader so I don't lose you again.

Hummers are rough with each other, but absolutely brutal to another animal that ventures into their feeding path. I have a friend whose cat was chased away by hummers.

Neoma said...

Hi Quilly, they are, aren't they, I was wearing a red hat, and sitting to close to the feeder and they were actually dive bombing me. so I had to go up on the porch. When you have about seven of them, they make quite a racket also, they chirp and make high pitched mousy sounds. But I love them.