Dancing Hummingbirds

Around the middle of April each year the hummingbirds come back to Shady Hollow. We try to have the feeders out and ready before the scouts arrive.

The hummingbirds are fueling up now for their migration back to warmer locations. They are in a feeding frenzy and are forming flocks for the trip south.

If you sit patiently on the front porch for only a few minutes, you will hear the hum of their wings and their high pitched chirping as they discuss the merit's of this feeder versus that one or which flowers have the sweetest nectar this morning. They are not afraid of us. On several occasions we have had indignant birds hover in front of us, mere inches from our faces, chirping loudly about an empty feeder. All the Shady Hollow animals seem to realize how willing we are to be of assistance.

We sit on the front porch and watch the hummingbirds dance in the air. Their maneuvers are astounding. Higher and higher they fly until almost out of sight, only to turn and plunge back toward the earth.

We watch their dance, knowing all too soon we will go out one morning and they will all be gone. We leave the feeders out for passers-by who are traveling from further north. But "our" birds will be gone, until next April.