All Mine

The weeks are flying by it seems, and this time of year is always hectic for us.  We have birthdays, mother's day, father's day, our anniversary, and other celebrations that are all clumped together from late April until mid June.  Although it has been a bit crazy around here, I feel like we've accomplished so much already this spring, and I hope the rest of the warmer months will be equally as productive.

Although we've spent lots of hours cleaning and getting our yard back in shape...or maybe I should say in better shape, we have taken time to just enjoy this time of year by hanging out on our back patio in the evenings.

Last weekend the weather was picture perfect, low humidity, breezy, and almost cool'ish as the sun was setting each night, so we would go out after dinner and watch for our little hummingbirds to visit the feeder we have placed not far from where we sit.  Of course I take my camera with me sometimes in hopes of catching these little creatures that move so quickly.

Sometimes, trying to get a good shot of them is a lesson in sheer frustration, but for whatever reason, I try and try again.  And although they don't seem to mind if we are outside, they don't really like us to be too close, and they seem to sense when I have the camera, and become well, camera shy!

I was so excited when the female pictured in the 2 photos above, sat still just long enough for me to capture a nice shot of her complete with a pollen covered beak.

Rarely do they land on the feeders when we are out, but instead they flit back and forth from hole to hole watching their backs the whole time.

This year we seem to have a bossy female, and her equally bossy female nemesis, and the two of them fight non stop over our feeder.  In years past we've had at least 2 feeders, and our neighbor usually has several as well, but this year we bought a new feeder, and threw out our old ones that were brittle and in poor shape due to the unrelenting sun we get here.

And our neighbor hasn't put her feeders out yet, so we seem to be the only game in town, so maybe that's why they seem so territorial at the moment.

As soon as one female comes in to drink, the other female is lying in wait with a not so secret sneak attack in mind.

Each female takes quick rapid sips from the feeder, all the while knowing that the other one will soon be there to shove her off for her own dining pleasure.

They often spar for a bit, and then the other one will fly off to our maple or cherry tree, chattering the whole way, as if she is cussing out the other one in secret hummingbird language.

This goes on for quite some time, and they never seem to come to any kind of understanding that there are multiple holes in the feeder, and the more the merrier concept seems completely lost on these two alpha females.

I've only seen a male at the feeder a handful of times, and my guess is that he's just happy to stay out of the fray of these bossy little ladies.

It reminds me of that scene in Finding Nemo where the seagulls are all saying "mine, mine, mine" as they fight over who will win the prize of something yummy to eat.

And of course they don't even seem interested in the various flowers I have planted to help give them an artisanal selection of nectars to choose from.  Thankfully the bees, moths, and butterflies don't mind sharing, and are happy with the flowers I selected for their cafe style dining experience.

I guess hummingbirds can be a lot like people...worried that if they share, they might miss out on something really good.  Perhaps they've never read the saying below!

A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle

~James Keller~