It is truly fascinating to me to watch hummingbirds. We finally have a feeder up this year and have spent several hours outdoors watching them feed and fight and play and feed some more. I would venture to say that we have at least 4 who frequent our feeder, but the information I've been reading says that you can take whatever number you see all at once and multiply it by 4 and that is the number you actually have using your feeder. Wow!
We enjoy especially the evenings, cuz that is when the male is the most territorial. He will swoop down and fight off any other hummer that even comes near 'his' feeder. It's so funny to watch cuz the other hummers don't give up...they just keep coming back for more thumpings from him. :)
Last night I saw 2 females around the feeder and it truly looked like they were dancing with each other. There was one on either side of the 4-sided feeder and they would mirror each others movements. When one would drink, the other would drink from the hole opposite her. When one would go left, the other would follow suit. And so on. Truly amazing.
Yesterday afternoon, I was out on the porch reading a book and the hummers were playing as usual. Well, all of a sudden this one comes extremely close to me and starts flying right behind my book! I just sit there very still, cuz I could feel his wings moving the air across my legs. I also knew that if I moved I might scare him away, and they are very comfortable now with us being around so I didn't want to jeapordize that. Anyway, he flew around me a bit, just looking at me and then abruptly flew away. That's when I realized...the outside cover of my book was bright PINK! He was attracted to my book color, looking for a food source! :)
I did a bit of looking online this morning and wanted to share this link:
http://www.hummingbirds.net/index.html
This page describes much about the type of hummers we have here, the Ruby Throated:
http://www.hummingbirds.net/rubythroated.html
Please take a moment and look at the beautiful creatures. If you have any in your area, get a feeder and then sit back and enjoy them!
Friday, August 04, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
The Woes of Night Terrors!
I was just about asleep last night when I hear this weird noise. It almost sounds like an animal making a weird noise. Then I realize it's C crying like he's mad...almost screaming. We've been dealing with night terrors with him for quite a while now, but we haven't had one in a few weeks...and certainly nothing like this.
He was standing by his bed stomping on his blanket (apparently it had gotten around his feet in his struggle to get out of bed) and was screaming this deep throated scream, like he was mad at someone. Then he starts angrily going around his room trying to pick toys up and not being able to (they were too heavy in his 'dream'?) and wouldn't let me touch him. Every time he tried to pick up a toy or I tried to touch him to calm him down, he just scream more and went another direction. Then he starts saying, "Aunt Darlene" or "Aunt Donna" but wouldn't say anymore than that.
Well, I see T walk past the bedroom on his way to bed. I can normally handle these episodes on my own, so this isn't out of the ordinary. But then C heads over to the step-ladder we built for their bunk beds and proceeds to climb them. I started to follow him over there, but he was fast enough I couldn't get to them before he got to the top and started walking towards the edge of B's bed. So I went to the front....he chose to go back to the stairs, which made me more nervouse...cuz I couldn't get there fast enough if he started to fall. So I called T and told him I needed help....
By the time T got in there, C had come down the steps and walked right to his daddy like nothing was happening.... They went back in our bedroom and started talking. T asked him if he had a bad dream...C said it was about an airplane that wouldn't get away from him. He said he didn't have anyone else in his dream except Daddy so who knows about the Aunt connection!
Anyway, a few minutes later he just climbed down and said he needed to go back to his room for a while. T followed him in there and he just crawled back in bed and went to sleep. We didn't hear another peep all night.
Like I said, these terrors aren't new to me, they just seem to be getting a little worse as time goes on and I dont' know what to do with it. There is no cure from everything I've read....people say most kids just outgrow them. Guess we'll see.
He was standing by his bed stomping on his blanket (apparently it had gotten around his feet in his struggle to get out of bed) and was screaming this deep throated scream, like he was mad at someone. Then he starts angrily going around his room trying to pick toys up and not being able to (they were too heavy in his 'dream'?) and wouldn't let me touch him. Every time he tried to pick up a toy or I tried to touch him to calm him down, he just scream more and went another direction. Then he starts saying, "Aunt Darlene" or "Aunt Donna" but wouldn't say anymore than that.
Well, I see T walk past the bedroom on his way to bed. I can normally handle these episodes on my own, so this isn't out of the ordinary. But then C heads over to the step-ladder we built for their bunk beds and proceeds to climb them. I started to follow him over there, but he was fast enough I couldn't get to them before he got to the top and started walking towards the edge of B's bed. So I went to the front....he chose to go back to the stairs, which made me more nervouse...cuz I couldn't get there fast enough if he started to fall. So I called T and told him I needed help....
By the time T got in there, C had come down the steps and walked right to his daddy like nothing was happening.... They went back in our bedroom and started talking. T asked him if he had a bad dream...C said it was about an airplane that wouldn't get away from him. He said he didn't have anyone else in his dream except Daddy so who knows about the Aunt connection!
Anyway, a few minutes later he just climbed down and said he needed to go back to his room for a while. T followed him in there and he just crawled back in bed and went to sleep. We didn't hear another peep all night.
Like I said, these terrors aren't new to me, they just seem to be getting a little worse as time goes on and I dont' know what to do with it. There is no cure from everything I've read....people say most kids just outgrow them. Guess we'll see.
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