Hummingbirds

I can smell it. I can almost taste it. And I can certainly feel it. Spring has sprung!

The arrival of the hummingbirds was marked last Saturday when I spotted one lone hummingbird hovering around the area where I hung the feeders last year. I immediately dug out one feeder, cleaned it and filled it with sugar water. Within a couple of hours the hummingbird population increased from one to fifteen. I now have two feeders up and will refill them on a regular basis until September. I never have used red dye in my sugar mixture. Mama read somewhere that the "red" on the feeders is enough to attract the birds and she is right. I didn't even attempt to count the number of birds yesterday evening. There is always a feeding frenzy first thing in the morning and at sundown every evening.

And why is there is always the one bird who is a mean son-of-a-bitch to the rest of the birds? For being so tiny, these birds are agressive as hell. I've seen the same thing at the ranch with the hummingbird who appoints himself as keeper of the feeders. He'll perch in the tree or on the fence guarding the feeders. As soon as another bird lights, WHACK! The mean bird literally attacks all other birds to move them away from the feeders. And this goes on all. day. long.

I currently have two feeders up at the ranch but I will have to increase that to four feeders by this weekend. Dennis will have between six and eight feeders at his house. Mama will also have at least that many hanging from the oak tree right outside the back door. Sam doesn't get it. He thinks feeding hummingbirds must be a "woman thing". And he cringed when he saw me hanging the feeders a couple of weeks ago. But he helps take care of them anyway. I will mix up a couple of bottles of sugar water and leave them by the back door. All Sam has to do is pour the mixture in the bottles and be done with it. And even though I know he will tend to the birds for me, he always has to tell me: "Robin, your birds are mad at you. Their feeders are empty."

Gray Cat likes to get on top of my vehicle and watch the hummingbirds. No way will he ever be able to catch one of them. I've seen the cats at the ranch accidentally catch one from time to time. But Gray Cat? Maybe I can train him to focus on the mean bird and I won't care if he catches that one.