Some of my old memories feel trapped in amber in my brain, lucid and burning, while others are like the wing beat of a hummingbird, an intangible, ephemeral blur. -Mira Bartok
My grandparents had a wonderful garden. The vegetables were in the back, right behind the flower garden. Maybe that's why the garden always produced in such abundance - the flowers drew the bees. In all my childhood years I only remember seeing one hummingbird. Of course I never went looking for them and my grandparents didn't put out hummingbird feeders. I remember everyone being very excited about that little hummer.
Today, I have a vegetable garden, and some flowers and several hummingbird feeders. Those little buggers are a joy to watch. Here, we get Ruby Throated Hummingbirds - very easy to tell males from females. The males get the red throat.
The first year I put the feeders out I spent hours nearby with my camera and took, oh, I'd say a couple hundred pictures. Most of them bad. I guess I've gotten so used to them I hardly ever take the camera out there to capture them anymore. But they are still fun to watch. Maybe I enjoy them more because I am just watching with pleasure instead of watching, hoping to capture a perfect moment. It was more like work.
They seem to know when I have my camera. They come and go much quicker, not hovering near the feeder long enough to take a picture. When I don't have the camera, they like to hang around. Very frustrating.
Today, I need to fill the feeders and probably make more food for them. They prefer the homemade to the store bought. 4 parts water to 1 part sugar. Heat it up til the sugar dissolves, let cool. Store in the refrigerator. And keep those feeders full. You'll have plenty of entertainment all day.
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