Ruben

Bill and I were sitting on his back porch discussing the fields that had been pastures for the steers he raised but are now growing walnut saplings and autumn olive shrubs. Hanging from the porch’s roof beam are six hummingbird feeders.

As we sat there, the hum of ruby-throated hummingbirds coming to, and fighting over, the feeders was almost constant. How many hummingbirds were there? Because they were constantly coming and going to and from the lilac shrub and the mulberry tree to zip around the feeders, they were impossible to count but there were probably between ten and 12, maybe even more.

Here at home we have one feeder out front and another on the back of the house outside the kitchen window. As near as we can tell there are about a half dozen hummingbirds using our feeders.

There are one, probably two, adult males, several females or juveniles, including at least one immature male that aggressively guards the front feeder. He’s been nicknamed “Ruben” as we once nicknamed an adult male “Ruby” who was featured in an older post.

On a rainy afternoon that young male perched on a branch in our recently planted river birch. He made repeated forays to chase off any of the other hummingbirds that ventured near “his” feeder. When things were quiet he preened, rested and kept watch for interlopers.

On his throat were the beginnings of his ruby red gorget, depending on the light those few feathers either looked like black spots or glowed orange-red –

This post was drafted last week, within the last several days Ruben and his fellow ruby-throated hummingbirds appear to have left us to begin their journey south to spend the winter in warmer climes with blooming flowers – Bill's have left too. Their journey often includes a 20-hour over-water flight across almost 500 miles of the Gulf of Mexico – amazing given the tiny size of these birds. If he survives until next year he may return to our yard.