HUMMINGBIRD FESTIVALS CANCELLED - 9/2/20


 

HUMMINGBIRD FESTIVALS CANCELLED

               BY: PEGGY WILLIAMS AKA Birdie of Mississippi

 

September is generally the month that we look forward to lots of Hummingbirds traveling through our state headed further south for the winter.  Part of that enjoyment is a festival that is held in Holly Springs by the Strawberry Plains Audubon Center, but on August 18th Strawberry Plains cancelled the September 11th – 13th Hummingbird Migration Celebration due to Covid.

 

Last year was the 20th Annual Hummingbird Migration & Nature Celebration.  When I have gone to the festival it was very exciting to see the workers band and release little tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbirds so they could be tracked.  Their poster from last year listed these activities: Guest speakers, guided nature walks, live animal shows, kid’s activities, nature-themed arts & crafts vendors, and a native plant sale.  But, this year none of these activities will take place and it will be a loss of revenue for the Strawberry Plains Audubon Center. 

 

Though there will be no festival to celebrate this year, the Corona-virus will not stop Hummingbirds from migrating.  Last year we had a very late migration, but many of us are beginning to see more Hummingbirds come to our feeders.  This summer only two Hummingbirds have consistently visited my feeder. I have watched these two actually fight over who’s going to get a seat at my bird table.  All those who have had feeders up for very long have viewed Hummers dive bombing each other to scare others away.  According to animals.mom.com – the reason that you might not see many Hummers is because of “turf protection.” Turf protection means that “a male Hummer forces other males to leave and find their own yard to hang out in, but he will invite females to come hang out.”  Because of “turf battles” I have learned that it is best to place feeders in opposite corners of your yard not all grouped together so that Hummers have room to set up mini territories and therefore increase your Hummingbird numbers.

 

I have read on several bird photography sites that birders haven’t seen as many Hummingbirds come to their feeders this summer.  Are Hummingbird counts down this year? I personally don’t think so.  Due to the quarantine many people have been at home and have worked hard planting bird and bee friendly flowers and vegetables in their yards.  There has also been so much rain that flowers have bloomed more than I can remember in years!  As I shared a couple of weeks ago, due to the new flowers in my yard I saw Hummingbirds totally disappear into the blooms to drink the nectar.  These natural foods for birds meant that they didn’t depend totally on the feeders that we put out, so we didn’t see them hitting the juice at our windows as much.   

 

According to georgiawildlife.blog you may think that there aren’t many Hummers in your yard, but you should take the number of Hummers that you see at one time and multiply that number by six and that will tell you how many are actually visiting your yard.  So the two that I regularly see multiplied by 6 would be 12 Hummers! 

 

This past week new Hummers came to my kitchen window flying zip, zip, zip and there were suddenly six Hummers at my feeder! So has migration begun? The Hummingbirds from the North begin to fly south in August so some migrating Hummingbirds have begun to reach Senatobia.  These tiny fast moving creatures have a way of making our days brighter and bring out our smiles as we “Look at the birds of the air…” Matthew 6:26.

My photos may be viewed & “LIKED” on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest - “Birdie of Mississippi”. E-mail: birdieofmississippi@gmail.com - Read my Blog @ http://www.birdieofmississippi.blogspot.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GETTING STARTED WITH BIRDIE OF MISSISSIPPI

Image
Birds, of course, have been flying and living around me all my life.   I studied basic knowledge of birds in elementary school and I was taught the name of our State Bird – the “Mockingbird”, but I’m not certain that I would have known what it was if I actually saw one! But I could recognize local birds that live in the South such as robins, cardinals and a few more, but it didn’t extend too far past that.   I have always been a very “busy” and “task oriented” person, but last spring things changed. During my early morning quiet time with God I read a Scripture “Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.” Job 37:14.   In reading this I realized that I regularly fail to appreciate sunrises and sunsets, spring flowers in bloom, and yes “birds” because I don’t venture outside to register these happenings!   I have never been an outdoor person because I dislike heat, getting sweaty, bugs and getting bitten!   All, of course, happens to every person that lives in  Mississippi.
Read more

WHAT WE COULD BE MISSING

Image
  WHAT WE COULD BE MISSING BY: PEGGY WILLIAMS AKA Birdie of Mississippi You may not be a PBS fan because lots of people aren’t interested in educational programming, but I am becoming more and more of a fan of both PBS and National Geographic as I re-coop on the couch from my fractured bones.   Not every program is educational, but since I enjoy math and science I gravitate toward programs about the earth and about outer space.   The nature programs have helped me learn about the grand scope of our environment down to tiny details about our planet.   There are programs about what we see when we look through our telescopes here on earth and also about the photos taken of our solar system from Voyager 1 and 2. And the more I watch and learn the more that I want to become like Solomon and have wisdom!   The programs show me how inter-woven every detail of nature and man are.   And even the word “nature” is such an all encompassing word!   Flowers and trees, birds and bees, and water
Read more

THE BIRDS AT NOTRE DAME

Image
Yesterday was a cool rainy day, so I pulled up my recorded NOVA episode called “Saving Notre Dame.” On April 15, 2019 a fire broke out at 6:18 pm that nearly burned down the 850 year old cathedral.   As I have revealed before, I am sort of a science geek. I loved this episode not only because I am interested in finding out more about the fire, but because this NOVA episode shows that there is a lot of science involved in resolving the many issues that have stemmed from the fire.   The damage is so bad that it is taking a large team of researchers to figure out how to salvage as much of the original Notre Dame as possible and to restore the cathedral to its former glory.       The fire began in the attic and quickly spread to the roof because the dry timbers under the roof burned so quickly.   As the lead roof and spire burned they sent out toxic lead into the air and coated the whole cathedral and its stain glass windows.   The researchers had to determine a way to remove the lead
Read more