Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Poppies and hummingbirds

The other day I bought one of the crepe paper poppies the local American Legion Post was selling on Armed Forces Day and in preparation for Memorial Day. I didn't have a buttonhole to put it in, and when I got home I decided to wind the wire stem around the still-bare trumpet vine that twists along one side of the deck.




It hadn't been there long before a hummingbird discovered it. Of course, the hummingbirds love the trumpet vines but the birds are already here and the trumpets are clearly weeks away. I don't know if it is the same bird or not, but today I saw another one hovering around from various angles and poking into the fake flower, hoping for something. I should probably go out and brush sugar water on it.

Sorry I don't have a picture of that!


I did, however, find this photo online of an origami hummingbird and flower.

In the background of that center close-up photo you can see a half orange fixed to the deck rail for the orioles. Tom cuts a fresh orange in half each morning and puts both halves out there. They go through an orange a day, with some help from a few other birds and the ants.

As you can see, other than the trumpet vine, things are greening up nicely out back.

1 comment:

Moving with Mitchell said...

This time of year is so beautiful in your neck of the woods.

I want to learn how to make that origami hummer and flower.

Put up the humming bird feeder. Don't tease the poor things.