Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Until next year...

 
 
In case you wondered,
...No, I'm not taking a blogging break!
I'm talking about my little hummingbirds.
I think they are gone UNTIL NEXT YEAR!
 
The little "hummers" usually arrive around my birthday in April,
and I consider their presence a great birthday gift!
 
For the past several years I've also been keeping track
of when they leave.
For three consecutive years,
October 5th seems to be the magic number.
 
 
 
This was one of the last little stragglers.

I heard his little "tweaking" noise as I went to get the mail,
so I just sat on the front porch and watched him for awhile.
...And he appeared to be watching me, too,
looking at me between taking time to groom himself.
 

 
It was October 5th,
...and I wondered if it would be his last visit.
I kind of felt like he was saying good-bye!
A cold front was predicted to come through later that evening.


Sure enough,
that was the last I saw of him -
...Or was it a her???
Maybe the male ruby throats had gone ahead
to find a winter nesting place somewhere down south?

I could hardly believe how much nectar was gone from the feeders.
The last two stragglers were chubby enough that their "take-offs" looked
to be in slow motion compared to what they had been
earlier in the summer.
 
 
 
I wondered if they rode out on the same wind
 that brought in the cold front to the Ozarks on the night of October 5th...
 
It amazes me what instincts God has given them.
Job talks about learning from the wisdom of birds,
and then later cries out for God, our Maker,
"who gives us songs in the night",
and
"who makes us wiser than the birds".
 
In Psalm 50, Asaph tells of God's greatness,
with verse 11 saying God knows all the birds.
Matthew 6:26 says God feeds the birds,
so I guess His eye is on my little hummingbirds, too!
 
So, UNTIL NEXT YEAR...
I guess I'll be blogging about other stuff!
 
To see my latest Names of God on Rocks post,
click HERE!
 
Or click HERE to see Wild Bird Wednesday!
 
 

11 comments:

Joy said...

Beautiful creatures of God.
I have bird feeders too. I love watching them eating the seeds I put on their feeders.
Thanks for the God's given words today:)

VBR said...

Isn't Nature amazing? For twenty years now, I have watched each Spring as a pair of cardinals comes to make a nest in the holly tree just past my fence. Every year, there they are. Of course, it isn't the same pair, but I like to think that they are descendents of the original couple.
October 5th has a specialness to it now. Time for the little hummers to take wing for the Winter!

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

I don't think I ever made note of the actual date that my hummers departed ... I just know that one day they are here buzzing around as usual and then the next it seems too quiet. They are missed and I start looking forward to their return right away. I leave my feeders out for awhile because other traveling hummers sometimes stop in for a pick me up ... God has blessed us with so many kinds of beauty.

Andrea @ From The Sol

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

Mine are gone also - sad

Anonymous said...

Lovely shots of the dear little hummingbirds ~ Tis a season for everything ~ (I am still learning that process) ~ Happy Weekend to you ~ carol ^_^

SarahBeth said...

I didn't know that about hummingbirds -- I have got to put out some feeders before next April so I can watch them too! Sweet pics!

Susan Anderson said...

Thanks. I love our hummingbirds, and the One who created them.

=)

fredamans said...

Hummingbirds were a fave of my grandfathers'. When I see them I miss him terribly. More than I normally do.

storybeader said...

very sweet! And great photos. {:-D

Aritha V. said...

Thanks for this beautiful blog and pics. Love this little birds. Very special. Sweet.

Stewart M said...

Great post! I'll get to see one of these one day - maybe 2014 will be the year!

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne