When Hummingbirds Come Home
May 3rd, 2014
Our hummingbirds returned to the home of their birth on April 29th this year. They came right up to our patio door and hovered there until my husband came to the window and acknowledged that they were home. Now it certainly is possible that they are some strangers hummingbirds, but I personally think they are the youngsters that left here last September to spend the winter South of the border. Instinct has brought them home to have families of their own. They will be safe and well fed (and well loved).
I have been tracking the migration progress of the Ruby Throat Hummingbirds since the beginning of March. You can follow the progress of the Ruby-throat Hummingbird migration at this site
Learner.org Ruby -throated Hummingbird Migration Spring 2014.
Joan is a lovely lady that resides in Metairie, Louisiana, she has made her yard into a home away from home for migrating hummingbirds. Sweet Pea is a Rufus hummingbird that stopped in at Joan's yard to fatten himself up before completing it's arduous journey North. Read about Sweet Peas story at
Sweet Pea's Long Journey.
If you are interested in a flower garden that would attract hummingbirds to your yard and provide food sources for the little hummers
Flowering Plants For a Hummingbird Habitat at learner.org has a list of hummingbird favorites.
There is a very sweet video on
YouTube rescued baby hummingbird (Joan sent me the link), about a young man that rescued an injured baby hummingbird and brought it back to health, it is only about three minutes long. The music with this video is very enjoyable.
This tablescape went through several transformations before I posted today. I was having lighting issues and just was not liking how it came out. The following pictures are from the last of the tables that were set.
The layers.........
From left to right: The large red glass charger made in Turkey came from HG last year, the smaller clear star burst finish charger (or large dinner plate) that goes from clear to etched glass came from the Salvation Army last month, the brilliant red Waechtersbach Fun Factory dinner plate was a recent Goodwill find, the red glass salad plate came from HG a while back, and the smaller hummingbird salad plate is from the Avon Crystal Collection as are the water goblets and candle holders.
I came across the Avon crystal a while back at Goodwill here in Medina County, Ohio. There are six place settings of water goblets, wine glasses, champagne glasses, champagne flutes, salad plates, coffee cups and saucers, two candle holders, two vases, and water pitcher. I was thrilled. The moment I laid eyes on this set I knew there would be a tablescape in red (the color that hummingbirds are most attracted to) that would go with the crystal.
The red wine flutes were bought at HG after Christmas with the
gift card I won from Kathleen giveaway at Let's Dish. Of course the water goblet is from Avon, and the little parfait stem was a thrift store purchase.
Of course there are hummingbird figurines on the table that came from Marc's at least twelve years ago.
The tulips came from Walmart this morning.
Here are few pictures of the first version of this table........
And last but not least is one of our little Sweet Peas. There have been many generations of these little fellas in our yard through the years. Some have met tragic ends in their zeal to compete with each other for the attention of the females. One had the misfortune to fly into the glass of our upstairs window in one of it's soaring adventures while I was standing there watching. He fell onto the deck and was lying there lifeless. It's little body was limp. I picked him up as gently as I could and held him in the palm of my hand and gently massaged his little chest to see if I could get him to start breathing again. My husband said I would have given him mouth to mouth resuscitation if I could have to bring life back to this little boy. I laid him into a flower basket hanging on one of the garden hooks on the deck to keep him safe from the cats, a while later he was trying to shake off his daze and gather his wits to take off but it took another half an hour or so before he was steady enough to fly. I should imagine that the hummingbirds that are sipping nectar in my yard today are his great grandchildren.
I am always thankful to the ladies (and gentlemen too) throughout the south that feed these little guys while they are making their way back north so that they can mate. I always think of Melanie in Gone With The Wind when she was chastised for giving away a share of their meager dinner to soldiers straggling along the road to make their way home with the hopes that some Yankee woman would be sharing part of her dinner to help the confederate soldiers (mostly Ashley) get home. This is the way I feel about hummingbirds. While I love them dearly, I know they are not pets. They are following their instincts to migrate and perpetuate their species. Anything I can do to help them in their journey will be appreciated by some stranger waiting for their hummers going back to their summer home in the North or on their journey back to their Winter home.
Linking with:
Alma's Seasonal Sundays
Nita's Mod Mix Monday
Susan's Tablescape Thursday
Mary's Masterpiece Monday
Sue's and Arod's Meet the Neighbors Party
Dawn's History and Home Link Party
