Jewels in the sky!

I have been learning how to be a bird watcher. I used to wonder what you actually do? Just watch them? How boring! Now, I'm learning it's much more then just watching. You listen, trying to distinguish bird calls from the others. You observe their feeding rituals, you learn what they eat and how they eat it. You study how they look and read about their behaviours. You take notes about when they arrive in your area and when they migrate. Where do they go when they migrate? I just learned that hummingbirds can live up to 10 years and they come back every summer to the same location year after year looking for food. Also, I just learned that my own hummingbirds in my backyard fly down as far as lower Central America and Panama every fall to migrate. How fasinating is that!

One of my favorite memories is when I was visiting my grandparents when I was about 10 years old. They lived at the base of the mountains in Alamogordo, New Mexico. One morning as I was getting ready to eat breakfast I observed the most wonderful site! My Grandma was outside hanging clothes on her clothesline. She began singing and all of a sudden, from no where, about 15-20 hummingbirds flew in and perched themselves on the clothesline right in front of her! They were just sitting there quietly enjoying the serenade. This went on for about 30 minutes. Come to find out, this was a morning ritual for her that had been going on every summer for years. I love this memory! Since then hummingbirds have been a precious reminder of my grandmother. They will always be a special bird to me. So, I decided to mount a hummingbird feeder in our back yard and what fun it has been. This is when my bird watching endeavors started. It has allowed me the excuse to just sit, watch and listen to all that goes on around me each morning. I love it! I have slowed down some and started just enjoying life going on around me. I'm on a mission now to soak up as much as I can.