Bulking up

The hummingbirds are feeding non-stop now, from the first light of day until the sun is well below the horizon. In less than a month, the adult males will begin to leave, followed shortly by the adult females. The youngsters, like this one, will be the last to leave, hanging around into late September or even early October.

In general, migrations fascinate me. And none more so than these tiny birds. How does a juvenile hummingbird know when to leave? And how does he/she know where to go? It's not like they are traveling in a flock - they leave one at a time and it is believed that they undertake the migration alone. They certainly don't have a more experienced "elder" to show them the way. For some reason, the thought of this tiny creature just waking up one morning and flying south, guided by nothing more than instinct, touches me on a very deep level.

This time of year, I find myself watching them all, hoping that they eat enough, that they bulk up enough, to make the journey. I know that some won't make it, of course. But I like to hope that all of "mine" will make survive the journey and that they will return next summer.

When I took my mid-afternoon break in the garden, I saw so many beautiful things. I had both cameras out with me and took way more pictures than I had intended. I limited my self to six on Flickr starting here if you'd care to look.

Four more sleeps until I go to FL for the weekend. I'm in need of a big hug from hubs...

Happy Monday...

Debbi