A hummingbird summer

If I had to pick a mascot for Summer 2009, it would be the hummingbird. If a reporter, on his worst assignment ever, was to stop me on the sidewalk and ask what words my family uttered most this summer, hummingbird would be one, along with bored, stupid and boarding school. This tiny, zip-fast bird has fascinated us all summer.

After our kitchen remodel was completed I moved our lone hummingbird feeder from a tree branch in the back yard to the new, humongous kitchen window. When it was in the backyard I never remembered to refill it. I'd virtuously fill it at the start of summer and then promptly forget about it. We couldn't see it from the house, so it wasn't that interesting. In its new home we see it all the time, and the hummingbirds flock to it. We never get tired of seeing the hummingbirds, of pointing them out and watching them hover or perch at the feeder. There seem to be more of them this summer, and we hear them fly by and have learned to identify their chirp. You'd think a hummingbird would have a lovely little birdsong, but they don't. It's a short, abrupt chirp.

When I was in Arkansas, my wise grandma taught me to make a big batch of nectar (add 1 cup sugar to 4 cups boiling water) and store it in the fridge. Now there is no delay when the feeder is empty. Also, you don't need to add nasty red dye #5 to your nectar either. The color of the feeder is enough to attract them. The kids and I have watched the birds swoop to certain orange, red and purple flowers in the garden, so we're planning a hummingbird garden for next summer. Finally, a hummer we can love!