Hummingbird Haven Remains in a State of Confusion...

The photo to the left was taken last year. Tommy fed the hummingbirds while I was in Florida.  As a rule, I have eight full feeders out by the middle of May. The male scouts arrive by the 10th of April.  Followed closely by the females a few weeks later. They mate, sit on their nests and have a whole new crop of babies in about three weeks.

Since our home is surrounded by a thick woods and plenty of watering holes, it is a perfect place for hummingbirds to congregate.  Until this past fall, a huge maple tree lived about twenty feet from our house.  The hummingbirds loved our set up. They could sit in the tree while guarding their feeders.  That tree supplied them with shade and a vantage point the little antisocial birds needed.  If too many hummingbirds were enjoying their feeder, they would leave the tree to wage war on the unsuspecting visitors. They fought all day long...I loved it.  The only time of day when these little emotionally unstable birds  were compliant with each other,  happened about an hour before dark.  Instinctively the hummingbirds knew they had to share their food source then.  Each bird would drink enough to last until morning, when the war began again.

However, their  maple tree had to be cut down last fall.  When the scouts arrived this year...their tree was gone.  The birds were not happy at all.  Very few scouts have stuck around my front windows like they have in the past.  I have one bird that graces my living room window feeders daily.   He isn't very eager to be here...it is mostly a hit or miss drive by.  He rarely visits any length of time in the evening.

There are still a few weeks for them to arrive in force.  A few birds will drop by but I am not so sure about the rest. They are creatures of habit who rely on their instincts and past experiences.  For the past twenty years,  they have counted on Tom and Vicky's Place to spend the summer.  This year it is not as accommodating as it has been in the past. Their habitat has been disturbed and frankly they do not like what they are seeing right now.

Time will tell the outcome. Today I am in a 'half empty mindset', and I really have my doubts...but I am wrong a lot.  Hope this is another occasion when I am indeed wrong.  Geez, never thought I would write those words!