In one of the first diaries I wrote for this website, I talked
about how my efforts to put up a birdfeeder and wind chimes
(seeming innocent pursuits) were being thwarted by the
aggressive local squirrels. I was once kept out of the rocking
chair on our front porch in the country once because a
mother bird had built a nest in the rafters and her hungry
babies were cheeping pitifully. She kept calling them, assuring
them that she would be there soon (and I soon got the
message and left). Now I'm being held hostage by
hummingbirds. Wouldn't you think I'd be able to make peace
with the natural world?
Hummers only seem dainty and frail to those who have not
tried to feed them. The Aztecs identified them as the gods of
war, and once you encounter them, you understand why this
was. Once you put out a hummingbird feeder (or plant the
kind of flowers they like), you find that they go to war over
who has the right to eat there.
When we planted a lovely bush with red cup-shaped flowers
in back of our screened-in porch in Texas, we attracted what
I called "The Sentinel Hummer." He would dart down to sip
from one of the flowers occasionally, but most of the time he
sat on one of the bush's branches, ready to chase away any
other hummingbird to dared to try to do the same. He was
fierce!
I remember sitting out by the swimming pool at our country
house one summer with my eyes closed, enjoying the rays of
the sun, when I started to doze off. Suddenly I was startled
awake by a noise like an outboard motor in one of my ears. It
only lasted a second, but it was really loud. I was confused
at first, and looked around to try to figure out what could
have caused such a sound, when I realized it was a
hummingbird that had flown by close to my head.
Here in LA, we noticed a flock of hummers zooming by one
day, so we decided to purchase a hummingbird feeder so we
could try to attract them to our balcony, where we like to
have breakfast in the morning. They arrived, just as we
hoped they would, but when we were OUT there, they
wouldn't come and eat. If we lingered over a second cup of
coffee and the papers, they got impatient with us and would
threaten us by "chittering" or dive bomb us with their sharp
little beaks.
One of my favorite bird stories took place when we were
living in our country cabin full time, before we moved to
Texas and then to California. I was lonely up there, away
from all our friends, but we had run out of money and had to
sell our apartment (we eventually had to sell the country
house where Whitley encountered the Visitors). I gazed out
the window and noticed two adult birds flying from a branch
to a fence post and back again. After they returned, three
smaller birds who were waiting on the branch watching them
would do the same thing. This pattern was repeated several
times. I realized I was seeing flying lessons! It was a rare and
precious moment.
Meanwhile, I'm being held hostage by hummingbirds. Help!
Related Entries:
10-Nov-2009: On NOT Going to a Movie about UFOs
20-Oct-2009: The Laughing Buddha
11-Oct-2009: The Red Coat
22-Sep-2009: Four Days
07-Sep-2009: Portents, Synchronicities (and Coincidences?)
27-Aug-2009: Two Birthdays
05-Aug-2009: The Irish Milkmen of the Dog World
27-Jul-2009: Two Surprising Events
29-Jun-2009: Trickster Coyote
08-Jun-2009: Tool Users
