Monday, April 22, 2013

Jazzbirds: The Return of the Hummingbird

As long as birds keep flying, the world keeps spinning.

Having received word from my parents of the spring arrival of hummingbirds in North Carolina earlier this month, I figured it was time to start putting some sugar water out this past weekend. Within 48 hours, a black-chinned hummingbird arrived with a mini-helicopter flutter. Voila!

The 4:1 water-to-sugar ratio always seems to work -- they do not need artificial red coloring. A figurative splash of red on the "feeder" seems more than enough, and like building a field of dreams, they come.

So far, in Texas, I've noticed mostly black-chinned (on the eastern fringe of their range) and ruby-throated (on the western fringe of their range) hummingbirds. The one pictured above looks like it's escaping from the latest Airborne Toxic Event, and just in time.

How about in your neck of the woods?

Today's Rune: Wholeness.

1 comment:

Charles Gramlich said...

We can't put out sugar water because of the bees and Lana's allergies to them, but we do see hummingbirds around at times. Beautiful creatures.