Ruby-throated Hummingbird

And POOF! They Are Gone!

Oodles of them. And so much action it’s impossible to count them, unless of course I cheat and take a picture of them. This particular moment I think I see 13 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris), blurred by their insane movement.

And then something startles them. Perhaps someone uttering the word, “autumn”.

And then – POOF! And they are GONE!

Now I will see one or two during the course of a morning or afternoon. Not 13 or 18 all at once. Arriving at the feeder, gulping down the syrup like they have been traveling miles and miles.

Sometimes one is carrying a suitcase with a sticker, Mexico, or Panama. Such huge distances to fly with such tiny wings. They do it twice every year.

Keep watching, paying attention to what is going on around you. Nature is astounding.

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Still Seeing Them

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). Gone are the summer days when I’d put out a half gallon of hummingbird syrup every single day. “My” many hummers are long gone but the little birds that summered further north are still coming through. Each traveling alone. That concept boggles my mind. Even the youngest, that just fledged this summer already magically know where they are going. WOW!

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Drama At The Web

Spiders love to decorate for Halloween, and I appreciate it so much. They spin their webs all over my cabin, making it look wondrously spooky.

This is the species of spider that created the web where this drama occurred today at lunch. A Spotted Orb Weaver (Neoscona crucifera).

As I sat eating lunch, I noticed a bit of action taking place at one of the spider webs, just outside the window. A Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) had become tangled in the web and was fluttering about madly. The spider was sitting on the web looking quite pleased and hungry.

And then, out of the blue, “Here he comes, to save the DAY!!” A migrating, Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) enters the scene. I don’t know if it was attracted by the brilliant red-orange of the butterfly’s wings, or if perhaps the tiny bird was thinking of stealing the spider’s meal. Hummingbirds do eat insects, by the way, including insects trapped in spider webs. It approaches the trapped Red Admiral and in short order the butterfly escapes – becoming nobody’s meal, and the hummingbird came around to the feeder filled with syrup, just for the migrating hummers.