A case of mistaken identity.

We have mice in the country.  Of course there are mice in the city too, but in the country they seem to get into things, like your car!  And they do things, like chew on the wiring.  And that means a trip to the car repair guys, and lost time, and money spent, etc. etc.  Well, you get the picture.

So when I got in my car the other morning, and looked at the passenger seat, I thought I saw mouse droppings!  Oh no, not my new car!  Damn them...

I got out, went over to the paasenger side, opened the door, looked really really closely at the little black things (turds?) and realized...that they were thistle seeds that fell out of the bag that I bought the day before.

BIG, big sigh of relief!

They're baaacccccccckkkkkk...

The hummingbirds, that is.

Dennis went out the front door (where the hummingbird feeders usually hang) and said one flew up into his face.  I told him that's the way they tell us they're back, and want something to eat!  I had already cleaned out the feeders, and so it was a small matter to make up some food for them this morning before I went to work.  Never did get a chance to ask Dennis if he saw any more today.  I watched the feeders for a while, when I came home from work, but no one showed up.

At our old house, I had a window above the kitchen sink, and they'd hover in front of it when they came north for the summer.  Again, signalling they were back!

Interesting story about their arrival times...we have a local gal who is certified to band hummingbirds.  She gives demonstrations at the local Nature Center a couple times every summer.  She said the earliest she ever saw a hummingbird was in February, and NOT this past February, when it was so warm, but last year, when it was in the teens and twenties.  The hummingbird had probably, she surmised, come up with a load of flowers destined for Lowes' or some other big box store that get their plants early.  Not a totally unusual occurence. 

When it showed up at her house, she rigged up a light for warmth, and a feeder to keep it going.  The bird survived, and when the weather finally got warm enough, and the local plants started blooming, the bird left. 

Don't have hummers?  They need adequate nesting areas (think lots of trees and cover), and seem to prefer cedar trees (or at least those are my observations) as they can be preyed upon by a lot of things, including dragon flies!  No kidding!  And I saw a big dragon fly this afternoon...

Nothing is more relaxing that sitting on our covered deck, reading a good book as the sun sets, and listening to the buzz of the hummers' wings as they feed and fight and fuss over each other.