It’s a wacked out summer

and the oddest things are happening at the hummingbird feeders.

Just four weeks into watching our small but healthy group of Ruby-throated  hummingbirds, I am observing hummer babies at the feeders.  This is a first in all my years of observation.  In past years the babies would appear in great numbers at the end of July and into August.  But here we are in mid June and my count is up the three fluffy, short-beaked hummer babies.

What is also astonishing is that there are definitely pregnant females around at the same time.  If you are asking me, I find this very peculiar indeed.

It may be unsettling that everything seems up for grabs, but the most important part is that there are babies…  and they seem healthy!  What can I do but provide a steady supply of sugar-water and observe?

Wacked out or not, catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico or not, I will watch over the little miracles on wings right here at Sontheim to the best of my ability.

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A sad, yet joyfull beginning

This year’s humming-bird season is off to a very slow start and I am saddened by the fact that to date only six girls and three boys have made it back to Sontheim.  This is a far cry from the multitude that left Sontheim last autumn to travel to their winter places as far as South America.  Judging by the activity at the feeders as the birds were getting ready to migrate, I estimated between 80 and 100 hummingbirds.  Sadly, only the few have made it back to our safe haven in Wisconsin.

As you can see from the above picture, the birds that made it back are healthy and full of energy.  This little guy always hovers at the feeder which is unusual.  Hummers like to sit and drink deeply – but not this little guy.  If I recall, he is one of the chicks that was hatched late last summer.   At that time I was not able to determine that it was a boy.  But here he is in his full glory.

The girls, on the other hand, have no compulsion to hover.  As you can see from this series of pictures, the girls like to sit and even share the same feeder.  First there was one who was joined by a second.

Then there were three girls…

And finally they were joined by a fourth.  All drinking peacefully from the very same feeder.

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What a difference two days make…

For weeks  the air was relatively mid – but the sky was overcast. 

Spring flowers seemed doomed – while only a few buds showed any promise of life. 

 

Advance two days with full sun – 75 degree farenheit breaks the spell. 

 

Blooms are bursting forth and two happy girls know that winter is finally gone. 

Lilly in repose! She loves the sun.

Sophia, as always, looking for shade.

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Snow, Snow and More Snow!

We’ve been having fun in the snow.  The girls just love the white stuff and don’t seem to be able to get enough of it.   

On our daily walk.

 

 I have learned to use my snow-shoes without stumbling over them.  The first time I used them I promptly tumbled myself in the deep snow.  Much to my surprise, my two girls came running to investigate.  And while Lilly watched me intently, Sophia lay down beside me until I was able to get up again.  Needles to say, I was amazed! 

Lilly, the expert hunter, digging of mice.

 

  

Curious Emma comes to investigate.

 

Reserved Sophia watches from a distance.

 

And last, but not least, Emma gets a kiss from her beloved Greg. 

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A thirty degree drop in one night!

My wish for cooler weather has been granted – it seems however – to an extreme.

On Sunday, temperatures were a balmy 72 degrees – Monday brought a cold-front accompanied by winds that sent the dogs into hiding – and today, Tuesday starts at a chilly 42 degrees.

The wind, it seems, has harvested the apples in our young orchard.  Each and every one is on the ground and my girls are helping me by scoping up the smaller ones and dropping them at my feet.  Not right away mind you, but after a joyful run around the orchard with apples in their teeth.

Here you see the apples still on the tree with Sophia rolling in something yummy nearby.

The cool weather is a blessing for me and for the dogs, who love the longer walks.  All bundled up we tackle the full circuit along the woods’ edge. 

The air is crisp – the leaves are bright with every shade of green and red, yellow and brown –  silence breaks only by an occasional walnut hitting the ground.

I take my time – I stop to rest – I watch my girls live in the day.

Here are the girls in their typical response to my command.

Lilly and Sophia way ahead of me.

Sophia responds instantly to my call.

And here comes Lilly, after a second invitation.

Back at the house, we contemplate the beauty of this autumn day.

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Waking to a tropical rainfall in Wisconsin…

5:59 AM and Sophia wakes me from a restless night.  It is dark and I hear distant thunder.  I get up to check on the hummingbirds and my girls are ready to brave the outdoors. 

As always, they dash out with unbridled energy but the exuberance fades as sheets of warm rain pour down on them and thunder claps nearby.  I hastily put up the feeders for the hummingbirds and we flee inside. 

The outdoor thermometer reads a balmy 77 degrees Fahrenheit. 

My thoughts turn to New Zealand’s tropical forests — instead of Hummingbirds, should I be looking for the flightless Kiwi?

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Climate change comes to Wisconsin.

What a change a day makes:  April 22nd brings 37 degrees and snow.  On  April 24th, we count 82 degrees by noon and rising;  the day ends at 89 degrees and humidity that can be cut with a knife;  night temperatures hover at 75 degrees in spite of thunderstorms and un-relenting lightning that brings daylight until two AM.  Today on April 25th, the sky opens with intermittent rain, temperatures hover around 47 degrees.

Last night Sophia and Lilly were snuggled into their beds during the storm and Stanley didn’t care.  Nothing much worries him as long as he can curl up on my bed.   I, however, was worried!   I still am worried! 

Worried about the environmental devastation we humans have caused, are causing every day.  For a species that is smart and ingenous we seem truly stupid.   We are the cause of de-forestation, over-population and stunning greed.  Our chemically based agriculture and the unrelenting hunt for convenience and profit has burdened our planet with staggering polution, with an environment that posions its inhabitants equally on land, at sea and in the air.  

And for what?  All this – so we can pursue material wealth and so that a few of us can become unbelievably rich? 

We are speeding toward the abyss.  And the question is:  Will we continue on and drive off the cliff?  Or will we rally to make the changes so desperately needed and avoid the worst?  

Yes, I’m worried!  And yet I have hope.  Hope because of how we brought change to the White House last year!

President Barack Obama contemplating the portrait of John F. Kennedy

Today, with intermittend rain, temperatures at a seasonal normal, my dogs are quiet.  They do not ask for treats, nor do they romp inside or out.  They are quiet, so quiet, as if they understand the peril.

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