
Every spring we hang hummingbird feeders around the yard to feed these wonders of nature. One feeder hangs outside my kitchen window so I can watch these flying comedians while I am at the sink or cooking. One sunny day, I walked up to the sink upset about something trivial when I saw that I was being watched by the “feeder guard” staring into the kitchen window. Yes he was perched on the top of the feeder guarding it from all others. He took flight when two others came to feed and chased them off. As he returned the same pair came to feed again and once again we chased out of the “air space” of the feeder. I stepped back for a moment and watched as the pursuit turned into a ballet of buzzing birds zooming past my vantage point. The little guardian would chase one or two off and while gone two others would come and feed. It was only then that I noticed that the feeder on our covered patio was empty. Having completely forgotten what I was upset about I quickly made a fresh batch of nectar (sugar water 3 to1 ratio) and continued to watch the comedy as I awaited it to cool. Once cooled I proceeded out to remove the feeder that was empty, on the patio and was “buzzed” several times while taking it in to clean and refill. Upon retuning it to the patio again I was “buzzed” by several little ones until I had rehung the feeder. This feeder being the larger of the two immediately had many visitors and when I returned to my window at the sink the “guardian” was taking a turn at his feeder, then back to his post. I kept chuckling to myself and returned to my office to finish what ever I had walked away from upset. Now chuckling and no longer upset the day continued with a much calmer tone. The pandemic had brought my wife back to work from home so she had witnessed part of this and asked “what is so funny?” I explained the events and she could not help from laughing. She said I guess they let you know that they were hungry. Just more mouth’s to feed in our menagerie.