Yesterday I was sitting at the dining room table, talking to Vincent, and a small bird floated down to the floor behind him. He leaned over and said there was a hummingbird on the floor. It was laying there with his wings open.
Vincent picked up the bird and said he couldn’t even feel its’ weight in his hands. He took the bird outside and put him on a feeder. He just sat there, not feeding or moving.
Last night I checked on him and he was just in the same position. I got up last this morning and Lisa said the hummingbird had died. He was hanging upside down on the feeder. I went outside and he wasn’t there. I assumed he fell off.
But I went down and he wasn’t underneath the feeder either. Then I remembered something I had read about hummingbirds, that they could go into a weird trace-like state from too much sugar-water, so I was hoping that was the case.
I Googled the question and it came back that hummingbirds actually sleep upside down normally. I was very happy. You don’t want to be associated with a dead hummingbird normally.
Yesterday we turned back on a 4 hour ride. We got to 12,000 ft. and the weather looked horrible. We’d been riding an hour and a half, plus, I’d been getting rained on everyday this week, so we just descended by to Copper Mountain. I sort of fell twice. Just fell over sideways, but I’m still sore this morning.
We’re heading over to Eagle pretty soon to ride some trails that Vincent raced earlier this year. We’re picking up Karl in Vail on the way. Should be fun.
Hummingbird in the house.
Then at the feeder.
Last night.
This morning.
Now.
Vincent took this photo climbing up above treeline yesterday. I had a Shimano camera on the front, but haven’t edited it yet.
The pic of Steve climbing looks more like a rain rut, than a trail !
Jeff – That is actually the Colorado Trail that runs from Durango to Denver. The sky looks pretty clear there, but up on Searl Pass it got ugly towards Leadville and Minturn.
“You don’t want to be associated with a dead hummingbird normally.” That’s a funny statement. I can’t imagine wanting to be associated with a dead anything normally. Unless it’s a limit of ducks or dove, wrapped in bacon and jalapenos. Yummy
4 parts water to 1 part sugar. . . . boil it & let it cool.
Diabetic coma…
I have a hummingbird feeder in my backyard, but I’ve yet to see any this year… temps up here are 95oF and have been for a good month without much rain.
I need a day off from biking, I hope it rains soon!
the fields here are bone dry. Was watching a soccer match last night, it was as though everyone was playing in the dirt the fields were so dry.
Once the jet stream comes down though, that should change.
Also noticed the geese are starting to fly south already, which is really really odd for August, for they typically don’t start to fly south till Sept. Maybe its colder down south than up north now?
Humming birds are cool
We could use some rain too here in North TX where the afternoon highs have been in the triple digits for a few weeks, almost daily. 102 predicted today. I have 2 hummingbird feeders that are used a lot. I’ve counted 5 + birds at one time this morning.
103 in Dallas today.
I’d prolly have to walk/push most of that
A friend told me he found a couple of hummingbirds hanging upside down in a tree sleeping while he was camping in Minnesota.