Hummingbirds

Photo by Peter Brooks Jarvis

Dave put out the hummingbird feeder and we immediately saw the black and white striped sapsucker clinging to the perch. The hummingbirds will follow soon, and the orioles will find the orange halves and grape jelly within a few days.

I used to worry that the hummingbirds were pushing the season. There couldn’t possibly be enough flowers yet to feed all the migrating hummers. But they follow the sapsuckers for a good reason. With their long tongues, hummingbirds can extract nectar from the holes sapsuckers make in trees. What a wonderful congruence.

Although we only see the sap suckers in the spring when they come to our feeders, we see the hummingbirds all summer long working in my sun garden. What a wonderful reason to plant flowers.