Usually the hummingbirds return from Central and South America to the very same place they left the year before. Every year, the first male hummingbirds scouts arrive at our home between May 2nd and May 9th. This year, they are a few days early.
I spotted two males already dancing/arguing over territory by flying in half arcs facing each other. I immediately went back into the house to make a nectar solution for them before they started scolding me. The solution I make is one cup of water to a quarter cup granulated white sugar, bringing it to a boil for a minute or two. I let it cool down before filling four feeders, one outside the kitchen window, another outside my office window, and two straddling the front entrance.
Watching the hummingbirds fills me with a sense of joy and wonder.
April 16th, I spotted little electric blue lights fluttering in the garden around the white snowdrops, yellow aconites, and purple scillias. Two spring azure butterflies seemed delighted to be alive as they danced among the spring ephemeral flowers.
Spring, such a powerful time for renewal and rebirth. It always amazes me when new growth bursts forth from dead branches such as roses or trumpet vine and so many others.
I can still see the mountains through the budding trees, the reds of the maples, that chartreuse green, and so many vibrant shades of green.
I am so sad not to be able to put out birdseed feeders because the birds had been in weeks of a feeding frenzy. House finches, purple finches, golden finches, wrens, downy woodpeckers, chicadees, titmice, redpolls, nuthatches, and junkos devouring the seeds. I knew I had to bring in the feeders at night cause the bears were awake and like the birdseed, yummy trail food to them. One evening last week I was very tired after long hours doing spring clean up of the gardens, that I kept delaying going out to collect the feeders until my dog, Amanda, and I heard the bear at the same time.
I managed to salvage the squirrel proof bird feeder the next day, hoping my husband could repair it.
