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You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Birdwatching / Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread

Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  August 5, 20201:07 pm| 97 Comments

This post is in: Birdwatching, Open Threads

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Here’s a hummingbird photo from my morning vigil beside the firecracker bush:

Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread 2

After observing them closely over the past few months, I’ve learned hummingbirds spend more time perched than I thought they did. It’s just that they’re so fast it’s hard to follow them to the perch, and they’re so small that it’s tough to spot them when they aren’t in motion.

I see this young fellow a lot too.

Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread 3

I assume he’s male and of the same species as the bird pictured up top because his few sparkly ascot feathers are of the same hue when they catch the sunlight. Maybe they’re father and son. If so, that doesn’t stop them from chasing each other away from food sources.

In other news, a few minutes ago, I heard voices outside, which is very unusual out here in the middle of nowhere. I went out to investigate, and there was a deputy in his cruiser parked on the dirt road that runs past our house, talking to someone on his radio. I realized it was the first time I’ve seen the law out here, and I’ve lived here nearly two years.

He drove on, so I assume we’re not suspected of any crimes. (Knock wood.) Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

97Comments

  1. 1.

    Immanentize

    August 5, 2020 at 1:09 pm

    Meth lab check

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 5, 2020 at 1:10 pm

    Sparkly ascots are sparkly.

  3. 3.

    jackmac

    August 5, 2020 at 1:11 pm

    I’ve had a couple of hummingbirds show up outside my house (we appear to be a bird haven with some 12 species we’ve identified). Well, I want to keep the hummingbirds coming back. Any suggestions on food or treats to lure them? Thanks in advance!

  4. 4.

    dmsilev

    August 5, 2020 at 1:13 pm

    @jackmac: A sugar syrup works fine; there’s no need to spend money on the premade nectar mixes. I use four parts water to one part sugar. Heat up the water, stir in the sugar until it dissolves, cool for a bit and then pour into your feeder.

  5. 5.

    Eljai

    August 5, 2020 at 1:16 pm

    I was sitting out on my balcony when a hummingbird came by to hover around my potted salvia plant. Then he looked at me in surprise (I swear!) and took off.

  6. 6.

    MomSense

    August 5, 2020 at 1:17 pm

    Hopefully there are no fugitives in the area. Last week a fugitive from Massachusetts was caught in Wilton Maine which is a town of about 4,000 residents in Franklin County.

  7. 7.

    TaMara (HFG)

    August 5, 2020 at 1:18 pm

    This is the week we start to see Hummers, ever so briefly, as they migrate from the mountains down to NM.

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    August 5, 2020 at 1:22 pm

    @dmsilev: I do the same with my two feeders. Also, it’s important to keep the feeders clean, especially during hot weather. I take mine in and wash and refill them every three or four days.

    But the firecracker bush is the big draw for the hummingbirds around here. We also have a honeysuckle vine on the fence and a large firespike bush they like, and they are fond of basil flowers when the herb garden goes to seed.

  9. 9.

    trollhattan

    August 5, 2020 at 1:23 pm

    @dmsilev:
    Yup, 4:1 water:sugar using boiling water to kill any bacteria and I have plenty of customers. This time of year they empty my 1 qt feeder in about a week. I could probably hang two or three and empty them in the same amount of time, because the territorial little things are constantly fighting over the one.
    “Hey guys, you do know there are six feeding points you could all use.”
    “Screw you, human, this is MY feeder.”

    ETA once used powdered sugar in lieu of granulated and they boycotted it. Turns out they add cornstarch to the stuff and the birds want none of that nonsense.

  10. 10.

    CarolDuhart2

    August 5, 2020 at 1:25 pm

    hopefully you are keeping your doors and any outbuildings locked,  Betty.  The place you live in sounds like a good place for a hideout for at least a while until they go elsewhere.

  11. 11.

    Roger Moore

    August 5, 2020 at 1:26 pm

    they’re so small that it’s tough to spot them when they aren’t in motion.

    They’re also better camouflaged than you might think. The bright colors around their head make you think of them as flashy and obvious, but when they’re perched in a tree the green on their backs makes them pretty hard to spot. The easiest way to spot them when they’re perched is to listen for their call and use that to locate them.
    I’ve noticed the same general thing about the parrots who live here in Southern California. You think of them as brightly colored, but they’re mostly green, with the other colors on their heads and parts of their wings that don’t show when they’re perched. The parrots are easier to spot since they’re bigger, much louder, and move around more within the trees, but when they’re sitting still and not calling they can be surprisingly hard to spot.

  12. 12.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    August 5, 2020 at 1:27 pm

    It’s less stressful to see the cops outside when you have a teenager living at home.

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    August 5, 2020 at 1:28 pm

    @MomSense:

    Betty C lives in the middle of a Carl Hiaasen book, of course there are fugitives frolicking and lurking and skulking….

  14. 14.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    August 5, 2020 at 1:29 pm

    As noted above, hummingbirds love sugar water in hummingbird bird feeders.  Some people tint it red to be more obvious.  They also are drawn to lots of flowers (nectar sources obs), especially tubular red flowers, which is where everyone got the idea to tint their sugar water red.  They are also drawn to spraying water.  I sometimes will be visited when I am hand watering outside.

    Beautiful pictures Betty.  Well done!

    I used to wonder how a bird could just live on nectar and sugar water and then saw a documentary at a bird festival and of course they don’t; they catch and eat (tiny) flying insects for protein.

  15. 15.

    VeniceRiley

    August 5, 2020 at 1:30 pm

    I have a FB friend getting incredible hummer shots of them on the wing with her Nikon P1000. Absolute clarity of wing. I am dying to buy that camera when I emigrate. Going to concentrate on getting dragonfly shots on the Water Meadows in Sudbury.

  16. 16.

    Ohio Mom

    August 5, 2020 at 1:31 pm

    I am having an “If you have a mouse a cookie” type of day. We promised Ohio Son a turntable for his birthday, but where to put it?

    Several hours ago, I started clearing off the horizontal surface in the family room newly designated for the turntable, but where to put the stuff that was being stored there now?

    In that cabinet, obviously. But what about the four shopping bags worth of videotapes currently in the cabinet? Some of them can be given away, if anyone will take them (that will be another task) but No, Not the Monty Python collection! said Ohio Dad.

    Then on to finding a spot for the Monty Python tapes. Etc., etc.

    The corner is just about done but now there is a group of grocery bags in the foyer of Stuff To Be Given Away.

  17. 17.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 5, 2020 at 1:31 pm

    @trollhattan: Hopefully, Skink is keeping an eye on Camp Cracker

  18. 18.

    Roger Moore

    August 5, 2020 at 1:32 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I could probably hang two or three and empty them in the same amount of time, because the territorial little things are constantly fighting over the one.

    In my experience, two feeders empty faster than one for exactly that reason.  A single bird can’t guard two feeders at once, so the others have an easier time feeding.  When my feeders got really busy, I was going through two quarts of syrup a day.  I did the math, and that would be enough to feed 500 hummingbirds their daily caloric requirement.

  19. 19.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 5, 2020 at 1:32 pm

    I realized it was the first time I’ve seen the law out here, and I’ve lived here nearly two years.

    He drove on, so I assume we’re not suspected of any crimes.

    maybe the lack of a trump flag flying overhead is drawing suspicions …..

  20. 20.

    Hungry Joe

    August 5, 2020 at 1:35 pm

    Almost threw the radio across the room this morning, but I was in my car so it would have been … difficult. NPR story — I think it was “Here and Now” —  interviewing a single, out-of-work-since-March father whose unemployment benefits have run out; he’s broke and living with his six-year-old daughter in what he calls “a crappy motel.” New job doesn’t start for two weeks. He’s desperate. Reporter says, “Congress has been unable to agree on another stimulus plan to help people like you. What would you say to them?”

    Yeah, right — “Congress has been unable to agree.” Democrats want to give him $600/week; Republicans want to give him squat. So that’s an evenhanded and thorough description.

  21. 21.

    Alison Rose

    August 5, 2020 at 1:37 pm

    @trollhattan: Yep, I was gonna add–these tiny little effers will chug that stuff down, so make sure to have a lot of sugar on hand. I couldn’t believe how fast they went through it when I had one at my old place. No outdoor space in my current place, sadly, or else I’d have multiple bird feeders because BIRBS.

  22. 22.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    August 5, 2020 at 1:39 pm

    @Roger Moore: I was astonished as a kid to realize that scratchy noise I heard was the hummingbird “song”; I had assumed anything as beautiful as a hummingbird would have a beautiful song as well.   But I agree, hearing it makes it much easier to find a sitting hummingbird. My first step toward becoming a birdwatcher was hearing their call and looking around for the hummingbird, sitting or flying.

  23. 23.

    Ohio Mom

    August 5, 2020 at 1:41 pm

    A woman from anywhere:

    Oh yes, once I saw a hummingbird in the front yard, and no sooner did it register that, “Wow! There’s a hummingbird!” When it swooped to catch some little black flying thing.

    That was two surprises in one, first that there were hummingbirds in my neighborhood and two, that they eat insects. Nature’s bug zappers.

  24. 24.

    PaulWartenberg

    August 5, 2020 at 1:43 pm

    I live in that part of Florida where there are three to five county police cars SCREAMING down a major road every day after 5:30PM, usually in the direction of the dirt roads where the trailer park neighborhoods are.

    I do worry that Betty is under investigation for illegal birding photos. Some of these species require signing a consent form first, you naughty human.

  25. 25.

    Hungry Joe

    August 5, 2020 at 1:44 pm

    Every time I get buzzed by a hummingbird the primitive part of my brain sends out a flashing light, air-horn warning: BUMBLEBEE! Scares the unholy crap out of me. I give the hummers dirty looks, but so far to no effect.

  26. 26.

    raven

    August 5, 2020 at 1:49 pm

    Would you like to read about a friend who died the other day? She didn’t die of the virus rather complications from diabetes but she was quite a figure here in Athens. She and my bride hung out quite a bit and her death, while not unexpected, was a shock.
    Splendor in the Grass, Glory in the Flower

    Among other things she was a wonderful painter and dog person. When Raven died she did a painting of him on a place where the previous owner had a cat door. I think we may take it up and frame it.

  27. 27.

    MomSense

    August 5, 2020 at 1:50 pm

    @Hungry Joe:

    I don’t think Debbie will mind if I extend an invitation to join our scream at NPR in the car club.  Membership has its privileges – you may almost crash your car, your neighbors may sheepishly  call to see if you are ok after seeing you drive by screaming at no one.

  28. 28.

    jackmac

    August 5, 2020 at 1:52 pm

    @dmsilev: Thanks!  I’ll give that try.

  29. 29.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 5, 2020 at 1:54 pm

    In the woods in my neighborhood (southern New England, mostly second-growth oak and pine forest) there’s a shrub that grows wild, about 4-5 feet in height at most, with small, very sweet-smelling flowers now at mid-summer. I mean the flowers themselves are small, but there’s a bunch on each spike that’s at the top of each stalk. Any clues what this is?

  30. 30.

    dexwood

    August 5, 2020 at 1:54 pm

    I have five 12 ounce feeders scattered around that I refill every three days now and that’s with a yard full of flowers and flowering vines they love. The 4:1 water:sugar mix is just right. I get a kick out of the dedicated few that begin feeding while the feeder is still in my hand as I hang it up.

  31. 31.

    neabinorb

    August 5, 2020 at 1:55 pm

    I’ve cultivated a colony of hummingbirds. I had at least eight pairs this spring. The chicks left the nest a couple of weeks ago and I often see these younguns perching on twigs. They go through two cups of sugar water a day. There are five at the feeder right now (which is true just about any time during daylight).

  32. 32.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 5, 2020 at 1:59 pm

    @dexwood: Mine will empty a 12-ounce feeder in a day, more or less. But I’ve never had one feed at a feeder while I was hanging it.

  33. 33.

    Betty Cracker

    August 5, 2020 at 1:59 pm

    @neabinorb: How did you do it, aside from putting out feeders?

  34. 34.

    Roger Moore

    August 5, 2020 at 2:00 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    Yeah, we think so much of hummingbirds eating nectar that we forget they need protein, too.  I assume they need more insects when they’re feeding young.

  35. 35.

    dexwood

    August 5, 2020 at 2:02 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: You can feel the breeze from their wings. Magical creatures.

  36. 36.

    Humdog

    August 5, 2020 at 2:04 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: are the flowers white?

  37. 37.

    catclub

    August 5, 2020 at 2:10 pm

    yeah, when I was doing it, I put the feeders on opposite sides of the house, so the asshole could not see both at the same time.

     

    There is always an asshole.

  38. 38.

    meander

    August 5, 2020 at 2:10 pm

    It being Florida, I’m guessing those are Ruby Throated, pretty much the only reliable eastern US hummingbird (though I understand that some other species like Rufous or Allen’s have made the trek east of the Rockies and visit LA, MS, AL, and FL).

    Being too lazy to look at a field guide, my guess is that the top photo is an adult male Ruby Throated, the second photo is a female, and that they have mated previously, and that is why the male tolerates her for a little while.  Males don’t have anything to do with rearing chicks, so they probably don’t recognize their young.

    I’m on the West Coast so my primary hummingbird is the Anna’s.  I’m lucky to have quite a few visit my backyard flowers, and there is one male that thinks he owns the place. Most of the day he sits in a tall tree watching the flowers, swooping down when another hummer flies in. In the evening he sits on a wire and alternates between preening, feeding, and giving hell to any interlopers. On rare occasions he lets another hummer feed while he watches. I wonder if that is one of his mates?

  39. 39.

    Cermet

    August 5, 2020 at 2:12 pm

    Sorry Betty, but you write for Balloon juice so the cops certainly suspect you of wrong doing. But I guess they have to get in line with the NSA that certainly tracks us Balloon juciers. We are rabid lefty’s.

  40. 40.

    LuciaMia

    August 5, 2020 at 2:12 pm

    @CarolDuhart2: Doing a remake of ‘The Defiant Ones’?

  41. 41.

    Betty Cracker

    August 5, 2020 at 2:16 pm

    @meander: I assumed they’re ruby-throated, but I figured the one at bottom was a juvie male whose breeding feathers are still coming in. Is that not a thing? The females I’ve seen don’t have colorful feathers on their necks at all. We also see black-chinned hummingbirds occasionally too.

  42. 42.

    Just One More Canuck

    August 5, 2020 at 2:29 pm

    @meander: Chestnut brown canary, ruby throated sparrow?

  43. 43.

    Ohio Mom

    August 5, 2020 at 2:30 pm

    Raven:

    Yes, definitely remove that fabulous dog portrait on the cat door and hang it somewhere where it can be more easily seen/admired and also, safe from the elements.

    Reading the rememberance of your friend — she sounds larger than life, and of an era that is quickly drawing to a close.

  44. 44.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 5, 2020 at 2:34 pm

    @Humdog: Yes.

  45. 45.

    WaterGirl

    August 5, 2020 at 2:36 pm

    @trollhattan: You can use baker’s sugar, though, which is ultra fine but still individual grains. I use it for EVERYTHING.

    It dissolves almost instantly.

    Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread 4

  46. 46.

    Aleta

    August 5, 2020 at 2:37 pm

    I’m picturing the cop stopping because he saw an interesting bird above the road, and radioed in to describe it to Officer Birder on the force

  47. 47.

    Aziz, light!

    August 5, 2020 at 2:41 pm

    My feeder gets 3 or 4 Anna’s hummingbirds, which remain in Oregon all year and count on me to feed them. When they want fresher nectar they will hover two feet from my face and look me in the eye.

  48. 48.

    trollhattan

    August 5, 2020 at 2:43 pm

    Goddamnit.

    A 13-year-old Auburn boy died of a gunshot injury following a Tuesday night incident that police are investigating as a possible accidental shooting. Authorities say the fatal incident involved a trio of minors handling a firearm that had not been properly locked up, which resulted in the arrest of one adult.

    The Auburn Police Department says the teen was handling the gun along with his younger brother and one other friend who is also a juvenile prior to being shot, according to a news release. Police did not indicate which of the three minors — none of whom are named — may have pulled the trigger in the incident, which remains in the preliminary stages of investigation.

    Officers responded around 8 p.m. Tuesday to Redhawk Lane for reports of a juvenile victim suffering from a gunshot wound, according to the news release. The boy died despite lifesaving efforts from police and medical personnel, the Auburn Police Department said.

    Police arrested a 23-year-old man, Malik Hughes, for failing to lock up the gun, authorities said. Hughes’ exact relation to the juveniles was unclear, but the news release says Hughes “had been staying periodically at the (victim’s) residence.”

    Police arrested Hughes on suspicion of criminal storage of a firearm, a felony in California, and he was booked into the Placer County Jail.
    https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article244741117.html#storylink=cpy

    Thirteen.

  49. 49.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 5, 2020 at 2:44 pm

    I am heartbroken and sad. I found out that my brother and his wife are bhakts. They have changed their avatars to celebrate the travesty of justice unfolding in India right now

    Some context 

  50. 50.

    trollhattan

    August 5, 2020 at 2:45 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Thanks. I used to think that and powdered were the same thing. “Wrong, again.”

    In my defense, who ever reads the ingredients of a bag of “sugar?”

  51. 51.

    japa21

    August 5, 2020 at 2:49 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: My condolences. One thing the last few years are showing us is that we are finding out the deeper natures of a lot of people whom we thought we knew well. And unfortunately, the deeper nature is ugly.

    ETA: I should sometimes that deeper nature is ugly. I have also found out that some people have a deeper well of goodness than I had realized.

  52. 52.

    raven

    August 5, 2020 at 2:50 pm

    @Ohio Mom:  Yea, the “Chuck” who is mentioned has lived in Hanoi for years and head ups a mission that supplies prosthetics to amputees there.

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    August 5, 2020 at 2:51 pm

    @trollhattan: I bought it several years ago because some recipe called for it, and I have not bought any other sugar since then.  If you cook or bake or make cocktails or use sugar for anything, it’s the best.

  54. 54.

    kindness

    August 5, 2020 at 2:52 pm

    The local Sheriff was called out to Betty’s for either an illegal still or a meth lab.

    Say it ain’t so Betty.

  55. 55.

    Mary G

    August 5, 2020 at 2:53 pm

    I used to hang a feeder from the patio outside my bedroom window, and when it was empty, the hummer who considered it his personal property would come to the window and yell at me to BRING THE FOODS NAOW!

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    August 5, 2020 at 2:53 pm

    @trollhattan: I have never even thought to look at the ingredients on sugar.  Sprinkle a little bit of this stuff on strawberries, and it melts instantly.

    I don’t use it on the strawberries I grow, of course!

  57. 57.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 5, 2020 at 2:54 pm

    @japa21: Goodness is in short supply right now, or so it seems.

  58. 58.

    rikyrah

    August 5, 2020 at 2:55 pm

    Chicago Public Schools going ONLINE ONLY to open.

     

    YES YES YES YES YES YES!!

  59. 59.

    WaterGirl

    August 5, 2020 at 2:56 pm

    @Mary G: My sister’s hummingbirds do that!  It hands right outside the window in the dining room, so you are maybe 3 feet away from the feeder.

    She changes hers and refills it every day.  One day she brought it in to change it, then dinner was ready without a lot of warning, so she was going to fill and take it out after dinner.

    That hummingbird glared at us through the window and didn’t go anywhere until she got up from the table and put the feeder back out.

  60. 60.

    rikyrah

    August 5, 2020 at 2:58 pm

    @Immanentize:

     

    Imma :)

     

    What are Little Imma’s plans?

    Is he going to physical school this semester?

  61. 61.

    germy

    August 5, 2020 at 3:02 pm

    The Last Man is an apocalyptic, dystopian science fiction novel by Mary Shelley, which was first published in 1826. The book describes a future Earth at the time of the late 21st Century, ravaged by an unknown pandemic which quickly sweeps across the world. It also includes a discussion of English culture as a republic, with Mary Shelley sitting in meetings of the House of Commons to gain an insight into the governmental political system of the romantic era.

  62. 62.

    greenergood

    August 5, 2020 at 3:03 pm

    We have very beautiful birds here in Scotland – goldfinches, greenfinches, swallows, swifts, kingfishers, henharriers, sparrowhawks and more – but the hummingbid is not here – and is SO BEAUTIFUL and amazing in its habits. I am in awe and jealous of those can feed and see hummingbirds…

  63. 63.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    August 5, 2020 at 3:08 pm

    @Ohio Mom: All the insect eaters amaze me. The coordination needed to catch flying insects! We have a pond and the Black Phoebes sit on the roof and sally out from there catching whatever. I like to think mosquitos.

    Of course, now that I think about it, raptors do the same amazing feats, just with bigger prey.

  64. 64.

    Wayne

    August 5, 2020 at 3:08 pm

    @trollhattan: Betty C lives in the middle of a Carl Hiaasen book, of course there are fugitives frolicking and lurking and skulking….

    Perfect.

  65. 65.

    jeffreyw

    August 5, 2020 at 3:11 pm

    pic.twitter.com/khtyTKu5Wl— jeffreyw (@imjeffreyw) August 4, 2020

  66. 66.

    neabinorb

    August 5, 2020 at 3:12 pm

    I think a lot of it has to do with living next to a river with lots of really tall trees, and I start feeding as soon as they return in the spring. I live in west central Indiana in an exurban area. This year I also saw them collecting spider silk for their nests.@Betty Cracker:  Love your posts!

  67. 67.

    germy

    August 5, 2020 at 3:13 pm

    @jeffreyw:  I like that profile photo of your cat watching you adoringly.

    Weird coincidence, it’s the same pose my wife chose when she drew a pencil sketch of our cat and me.

  68. 68.

    VeniceRiley

    August 5, 2020 at 3:13 pm

    @greenergood:  Thinking of putting up a swiftbox at the house

  69. 69.

    rikyrah

    August 5, 2020 at 3:14 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

     

    So sorry :(

  70. 70.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 5, 2020 at 3:15 pm

    @rikyrah: Thanks.

  71. 71.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    August 5, 2020 at 3:15 pm

    @WaterGirl: I had never paid attention to Baker’s/Ultra-Fine sugar, just using regular or powdered as required.  Then recently, while watching the Great British Baking Show on PBS, I started to wonder “what is Caster Sugar”? and lo, it is ultra-fine.  Learn something every day.

  72. 72.

    Kabecoo

    August 5, 2020 at 3:21 pm

    Having recently moved from Tucson to central WA state, we’ve enjoyed hummingbirds in both locations. In Tucson we could photograph nests; here we just argue about the type of hummingbird we can see, rufous, black-chinned, and the dramatic calliope.

  73. 73.

    jeffreyw

    August 5, 2020 at 3:25 pm

    @germy:

    Bitsy Kitty is my little honey bunny.

  74. 74.

    ruemara

    August 5, 2020 at 3:27 pm

    I am greatly annoyed at my lack of hummingbird visitors lately.

  75. 75.

    prostratedragon

    August 5, 2020 at 3:28 pm

    @MomSense: Thought you meant hummingbirds, was all set to learn some new ornithology.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    August 5, 2020 at 3:32 pm

    @rikyrah: In case Imm won’t be back to the thread, I can report that yesterday (I believe) Rice was opening for in-person classes and that they are headed there this weekend.

    Imm will surely correct me if I got any of that wrong!

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    August 5, 2020 at 3:34 pm

    @A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan): Try it and you’ll never go back. :-)

  78. 78.

    Ohio Mom

    August 5, 2020 at 3:38 pm

    Schrodingers__cat: What a betrayal! Wonder what got into them?

    I have assholes in my family but they have always been assholes so there are no shocking revelations.

  79. 79.

    Betty Cracker

    August 5, 2020 at 3:49 pm

    @neabinorb: We’re near a river with tall trees too — that must explain the steady stream of hummingbirds! I’m thrilled to pieces to have them as regular guests. We rarely saw them at our old place.

  80. 80.

    J R in WV

    August 5, 2020 at 4:00 pm

    Good friend of ours has a farm in Athens county OH, and does farm and garden big time. Also builds things, partner is jazz clarinetist. She had like a dozen hummer feeders out one summer, and told of working in a garden way away from the hummer’s turf, when she was suddenly surrounded by a cloud of angry, hungry birbs, who herded her back to the kitchen door, where she boiled a really big pot of sugar water for the angry birbs, who were angrily hanging out around the kitchen windows.

    She at least pretended to be feeling endangered by the aggressive pointy billed little hornet-sounding birds. Maybe really endangered? Who knows, crazy birbs are crazy!!!

  81. 81.

    Steeplejack

    August 5, 2020 at 4:02 pm

    @WaterGirl, @A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):

    Baker’s sugar’s quick-dissolving property is particularly good for iced tea, either directly or (as I prefer) made into a simple syrup and then added to the tea.

  82. 82.

    WaterGirl

    August 5, 2020 at 4:19 pm

    University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC) just now:  A bit of sanity.  I hope University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana (where I live) follows suit:

    The following undergraduate first-year seminars that are currently scheduled to be held on campus or as hybrid courses (part on campus/part online) will be offered entirely online:

    AHS100
    BA100
    DLG120
    ED151
    EPSY150
    ISA100
    KN100
    LAS110
    PUBH105
    UPA120

    It’s not enough, but it’s a start.

  83. 83.

    WaterGirl

    August 5, 2020 at 4:21 pm

    @rikyrah: Yay!  UIC just announced big freshman seminar classes are on-line only.

  84. 84.

    rikyrah

    August 5, 2020 at 4:24 pm

    @WaterGirl:

     

    Prayers for Little Imma going up.

  85. 85.

    WaterGirl

    August 5, 2020 at 4:31 pm

    @rikyrah: I know.  I am shaking my head at any school that is opening live this fall.

  86. 86.

    WaterGirl

    August 5, 2020 at 4:32 pm

    @rikyrah: Is this a game of chicken in Illinois?  The schools all said they would follow the Gov’s guidelines and only open up if we were in Phase 4.  But we can’t possibly be in phase 4 anymore because the numbers are consistently going up, right?

    The gov probably wants the schools to take responsibility for the decisions, or so I would imagine.

  87. 87.

    WaterGirl

    August 5, 2020 at 4:33 pm

    @rikyrah: I know this is personal for you, too, because you have to take public transportation.  IF the schools are open you are less safe.

  88. 88.

    Betty Cracker

    August 5, 2020 at 4:35 pm

    @J R in WV: Ha! Too bad she wasn’t wearing a GoPro on her gardening hat. That would have made an awesome video.

  89. 89.

    MomSense

    August 5, 2020 at 4:53 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I’m so sorry, SC.

  90. 90.

    Ruckus

    August 5, 2020 at 5:08 pm

    @catclub:

    There is always an asshole.

    This should win the award for best BJ comment ever.

    No truer words were ever written.

  91. 91.

    WaterGirl

    August 5, 2020 at 5:09 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Do you garden or bird watch with a GoPro on?

  92. 92.

    Ruckus

    August 5, 2020 at 5:21 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Goddamnit.

    At the very least. There really aren’t any words appropriate enough for this shit.

    I have an acquaintance, he worked for me for a while a couple of centuries ago, he’s 80 or thereabouts and keeps a gun for protection on the table next his TV chair. One night he woke up to hear voices in his house and realized that the gun he keeps for protection in case someone breaks in, is in the other room and could easily be used to kill him. Fortunately the intruders heard a noise and ran out before they found it.

    How often is it that the gun bought for protection kills an innocent person? I’d bet far more often than the reason it was bought for. The concept of a nation of independent Rambos would be funny if it weren’t so fucking tragic.

  93. 93.

    The Fat Kate Middleton

    August 5, 2020 at 5:46 pm

    @MomSense:

     

    @MomSense: Wilton!!? been there many, many times – my sister lives there near the lake (excuse me, pond). She’s a teacher at nearby U of Maine in Farmington.

     

    @MomSense:

  94. 94.

    neabinorb

    August 5, 2020 at 6:28 pm

    @Betty Cracker: they build their nests high in trees. I’ve only ever seen one while standing on a ridge with binoculars. The nest was near the top of a sycamore tree on the other side of the stream at the bottom of the ridge.

  95. 95.

    Jay

    August 5, 2020 at 6:50 pm

    https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d5/4d/e4/d54de4b76abb12dda677a8fa3c91982e.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/732327589389092892/&docid=4RfaWFxc7JaKhM&tbnid=WtZLCHFVPu1fZM&vet=1&w=960&h=786&hl=en-ca&source=sh/x/im

    Prismaticic hummingburbs.

  96. 96.

    Domestic short hair tabby

    August 5, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: viburnum , perhaps?

  97. 97.

    Albatrossity

    August 6, 2020 at 9:14 am

    I’ve been playing around with some features of my camera, and the hummingbird feeder offers some opportunities for making animated GIFs of those fascinating critters. Here’s one of the female Ruby-throated Hummingbird who owns the feeder.

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