Some people build all sorts of contrivances to lure hummingbirds into their garden. It was not our intention to invite them in when we planted flax and firecracker fuchsias in our Millbrae, California, garden.
Plants: Magnets to the Hummingbirds
But these plants are magnets to all the hummingbirds in the neighborhood. We have a whole family and their friends visiting us all day long.
It is fascinating to watch them seek out the sweet nectar with their long beaks and tongues.
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Often while I work quietly in a flower bed, one of these ruby-throated beauties will hover in mid-air a few feet away, staring at me as if to say…
“What kind of flower is this?”
Then, quickly realizing his mistake, he will fly away to sweeter honey.
The busy bees seem to fly about at a lazy speed when their flight is compared to the darting movements of the hummingbird.
These tiny birds wake me in the morning with their creaky, croaky chirping, saying…
“Be up, it’s time to work.”
And that is just what they are already doing, I find, when I wake up enough to watch them from my window.
Raindrops and Howling Wind
Hummingbirds are undaunted by raindrops or howling wind, for when all other birds have taken cover from the storm, they are still at work, brightening the unpleasant day.
It occurred to me that, since the hummingbirds in our garden seemed so tame, perhaps I could snap their picture while they were enjoying our flowers.
Hummingbirds Favorite Plant
I stationed myself near one of their favorite plants and soon one little fellow came and sat upon a wire safely above my post.
He began scolding and protesting.
“I don’t trust you—move on,” he chirped.
Eventually, a braver relative ventured near, and I snapped the shutter. He was too much engrossed in sipping the nectar from flax and firecracker fuchsias to notice.
This was the first of many snapshots I took of my garden visitors.
44659 by Florence Adams