Sometimes waiting doesn't work...

When I got up this morning Juan had already been in for horse feed(keep it in my kitchen) and left the front door open. Between then and when I got up a hummingbird had flown in and couldn't figure his way back out. I lowered all my blinds and propped the front door wide open. He was bound to fly back out eventually right???

See him there? That little black dot against the ceiling?

Out the door little guy.

The door THE DOOR!

Ok, well he'll figure it out eventually...

45 minutes later...

Hour and a half...

Now, remember Hummingbird have an extremely fast metabolism.

On the average they need to eat every fifteen minutes....

He just couldn't get low enough to out the door and I was beginning to worry.

I chased him around with a broom until he collapsed on the top shelf of my kitchen cabinets.

I carefully climbed up with a scarf in hand and caught him. He was too tired to fight.

I took him outside but he wouldn't fly off, his reserves were spent.

I got a tiny drop of honey and dabbed it on his tongue.

After a minute or so I took him back outside.

Finally...ZOOM and whir he was off in a blur.

Stay safe little friend.

That's a Rufous Tailed Hummingbird BTW

 Here's a better shot from somewhere on the web.

That flower he's eating from is a Calliandra species. They grow wild all over this area.

We have a LOT of hummingbirds here but we don't put up feeders. Just flowers. I prefer they eat natural nectar as opposed to sugar syrup. The syrup can ferment in hot conditions and become unhealthy for them.

Recent Reads

So, I know we don't have snow, but this is the time of year that many do, and choose to stay in with a good book rather than braving the elements.

I thought I would list some of my recent reads in case you're looking for new material.

I just finished this last night. found it hugely enjoyable and a look in to a life I could never live but could feel their love for what they do.
Trapline Twins  Just before that I read their other book















At the moment I'm reading















Before I read all of those I enjoyed
















Most of my other recent reading material has been rather horsecentric:

 












Only a horse person wouldn't look at me funny if they saw that stacked on my bedside table that's what I read myself to sleep with every night pretty much.


Some more recent reading