Is been a long time since I have posted a blog. This is the first weekend in a long time that I have felt like I had time to blog. A couple of weeks ago, at the beginning of October, a norther blew in and it marked the end of the hummingbird season here in South Texas.

I had three very active feeders in my backyard prior to the norther. There were about 6-8 birds hovering around the feeders almost daily till dusk. Seeing those fascinating birds hover, dive bomb each other, and feed from feeders and backyard flowers was so relaxing. Mosquitoes were plentiful so I set up a chair by the back bay window and sat there in the evenings when I made it home before dark. If I watched them carefully with my binoculars I would even catch a quick glimpse of their super long tongue.

For the most part, the species that visited my backyard was the Ruby-throated hummingbird.  I think it is possible towards the end of the season that I might of had some Black-chinned hummingbird visitors. Sometimes I thought I would see a flash of purple.

This season I learned so much about hummingbirds. Before this year, I thought hummingbirds only survived on nectar, but they eat insects! I thought their beaks were like straws, but they have long tongues that lap up the nectar. Their nests are the size of a golf ball.  The female builds the nest and will usually lay two eggs that are the size of a tic tac mint.

These birds are fattening up here in my backyard to get ready to go on an amazing nonstop journey across the Gulf of Mexico. Hummingbird hearts can beat up to 1,200 beats per minute. I learned that these birds can go into a “topor state”, it’s a hibernation state where they can slow down their heart rate to about the speed of a human heart, 80 beats per minute. These birds go into this torpor rate at night, but I think I witnessed this state even during the day when these tiny birds perched on a branch or feeder and didn’t move for 19-20 minutes. It was like they were frozen.

I was fortunate enough to attend the “Hummerfest” in Corpus this year. I was able to actually hear a hummingbird’s heart beat at a banding station. They held a ruby throated hummingbird to my ear. It sounded like a motor running at top speed. I did catch a glimpse of a Buff-bellied hummingbird on the tour. No pictures for me, but I was able to capture the glimpse for my brain.

Last weekend I took down my hummingbird feeders, washed them carefully, used my new little scrub brushes to clean all the feeding portals. I sadly packed my feeders away until next summer when these amazing tiny birds will visit again!