I live on what is actually a busy urban highway in the middle of San Francisco. Last winter I was at a nearby bus stop and noticed a hummingbird sitting on the bare branch of the single tree on the block. I saw it again a few weeks later and wondered what it was feeding on in this brick and concrete neighborhood. I assume it must have found one of the secret gardens I know exist. Last Friday I was sitting on a gas station bench on another busy thoroughfare. In front of me was a small tree from which to my astonishment I counted 7 hummingbirds taking off. What a delight!
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Here is the thing.
Most bird species are spectacularly adaptive. Already, we've noted that long-distant migrant birds are arriving earlier on their breeding grounds. Though continued climate change would undoubtedly lead to the extinction of some bird species, but it is likely most will survive fine, some thrive.
Do not misunderstand me.
I am NOT at ALL saying that global warming/climate change is good.
If you want to look at a species that will be devastated by continued climate change, look in the mirror, at your family, down the street. When Americans finally realize this, then needed changes will occur; hopefully not too late.
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@Steven Given the current devastating loss of bird life, the evidence suggests you are only engaging in speculation, regarding those losses, Steven. Just hope that Homo sapiens engages in real control of its own reproduction so that all species have a chance of survival.
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Don't worry about the tussling. It's not the sugar water. It's just plain ol' male hummingbird aggression; they are noted for that. Tiny as they are, even male hummingbirds are driven mad by their own testosterone.
Tip: Ensure hummingbird have a birdbath or other constant *water* source spring to fall
In our warm climate state, we landscaped back gardens to bloom in all but the coldest winter 2 months. I've designed it to be a natural bird, bee and wildlife habitat, with added hummingbird-specific spring/summer foliage and bluebird housing. Fifteen years ago, we added 2 hummingbird feeders at the back deck and at my office window. Hummers flit between feeders and plants, stopping at 1 of 2 birdbaths in the heat of summer.
The females are not aggressive but get caught in the constantly annoying crossfire of males who chase each other from feeders and all the many nectar producing nearby foliage. It's just what the males do, some varieties of hummingbirds more than others. It becomes more intense during October migration. We tamp down male aggression/anxiety by refreshing the feeder nectar often and limiting our presence around what we know are their spring nests in the evergreen trees at our property line.
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You're right - there is a difference in the light. One of those subtle things that make October my favorite.
Thanks for the read. Nicely done.
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Perhaps look at the first line of your essay for why what is happening is happening. As long as you rely on A/C you're killing the planet. Perhaps try a fan next time.
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When I occasionally am fortunate enough to observe a hummingbird up-close, for a minute or so, I feel that I am witnessing perfection.
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I was going to take my feeders down this morning, but two hummers showed up to “gas up” for their long flight. Thank you for another wonderful opinion piece.
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Beautiful, as always ... Thank you, Ms. Renkl.
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Here in the Pacific Northwest we have both migrating and resident hummingbirds. To help the resident ones survive some of the freezing days we have we keep the feeders full, take then in at night and at first light out they go to a chorus of thank yous from the little ones. They truly are amazing birds.
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Please have more columns like this to help us remember what is at stake!
For those of you who like to photograph nature, it is helpful to participate in a citizen science project to document the presence of individual birds, animals , or plants in your neighborhood at particular times of the years. In the long run this may be very important to conservation science.
One place to start is the website iNaturalist
https://www.inaturalist.org/
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Thank you!
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Thank you Margaret, for giving comfort to the ruby throated hummers who weeks ago left my western MA yard, the males departing first to blaze the trail for their mate and young. I wonder and worry for them on their perilous, solo journey. But I am grateful these little athletes of the bird world are finding sustenance under your care. Say hi to them for me as they pass your way. I'll wait patiently for them to lift my spirits again in the Spring.
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Such a lovely tribute to this time of year, and the joy & wonder in watching this small bird, and how the seasons as we know them to be are rapidly changing.
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Such a sad and beautifully-written piece - thank you! My hope is that we throw out of power the people who care only for profit and revive and improve democratic and sustainable forms of governance. This is the only way the will of the majority of human beings on this planet will prevail. Most of us want to keep seeing hummingbirds.
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I gave up on the local hummer, the Black Throats, three weeks ago. The stopped coming around though the warm weather had hung on. They must time migration on sun angle and daylight duration therefore. Two weeks later the Oregon Juncos filtered down from the mountains, so fall is here.
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Your article is beautiful and made me laugh at "...this year the leaves are still green — drooping but green — and the few that have already fallen are dry and brown. The September rains they needed for October color never materialized." You could be describing a classic Southern California autumn! We feed hummingbirds year-round and they also love the Cape Honeysuckle now coming into bloom in the backyard. You brought tears to my eyes when you wrote about watching the birds from your window. Thank you for gifting your readers with your eloquence.
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Alas, the last of the more northern hummers are just moving through now. Only saw one yesterday, none so far today. The joy they bring will soon be put on pause, only to be replaced here by another joyous sound overhead, the arrival of the sandhill cranes migrating south. Our home is located on one of the major flyways and I have always marveled at how the cranes arrival complements the hummers departure. Seems like it just an issue of latitude for these wonderful feathered friends.
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I live in Charleston, SC and I haven't seen the hummingbirds at my feeders in about two weeks now. It's rather sad that they have moved on for the upcoming winter months as I so much enjoy the the hummingbird wars that they put on. They look like little Star War space fights they they zoom up and down and around. So long my friends until we see you again in spring. Safe travels.
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I had a hummingbird at my feeder 3 days ago, on a cold rainy day here in southwest Michigan. I’ll keep the feeder full with fresh nectar for a few more weeks.
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Simply put, this was one of the most beautiful articles I have read in weeks.
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Here in Southern California the Anna's hummingbirds never really leave. They fuss with each other, chirp and chase constantly. The Rufous too. It's lovely. This year was a good year for hummingbirds in my area. So many. But my other bird friends' visits dropped off considerably. It may be a quirk, or it may not? Hard to say in these times. So I was ever thankful to have a healthy, somewhat raucous group of hummingbirds around all Summer. I hope they keep me company as long as they can.
We have always fed the birds, squirrels and any other critter who might amble by, but things have changed drastically in the past 15 yrs. After the BP oil spill (in 2010) our Hummingbird population dwindled to almost nothing. They were burning the oil off the surface of the water that April and I fear that many thousands of our little friends were caught in the billowing toxic smoke in the Northern Gulf. Only now do we see a few more Hummers visiting us each Summer in the NOLA area. I haven't seen a Robin in our yard in years and even Mocking birds are getting scarce. We are seeing species that are new to us and the Cardinals and Titmouse population has grown. It's all very strange and disconcerting. As the birds go.....so do we.
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Who doesn't like birds, even the ones, like hummingbirds, you
can barely see, if at all, on TV nature programming? But modern life, and its detritus, isn't and never will be a salubrious environment for the animal kingdom, outside of zoos and the occasional aviary. Are we to wax sentimental because hummingbirds are in decline; that thee environment in which they thrive is slowly (or rapidly) being affected by 1)climate change or 2) urban or suburban sprawl? Artsy little pieces like the writer's, oozing schmalz and regret, won't nearly do the trick. We've made out choice - it's called an urban civilization. The animal kingdom will have to adapt and find its niche. End of story.
We are part of the animal kingdom as well. Perhaps we need to adapt our ways? Nothing schmaltzy about this beautiful piece either.
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Thank you for the beautifully written column. Here in the Pacific NW we have the Anna's Hummingbird which has become a year round resident. Yes, we have to thaw their feeder in the winter for them, we have even seen them in the occasional snow not seeming to mind the cold. How they survive the nights is a miracle of avian evolution.
What a beautiful essay by Margaret Renkl! We, too, have a hummingbird feeder--in Arizona--where the most frequent visitors are Anna's and Costa's hummingbirds.
Some 12 or 13 species can be seen on one family's property on the road south from Sierra Vista, AZ, where they've place 40 or so hummingbird feeders around their gardens. The lodge in Madera Canyon also has a lot of feeders, and one can easily observe six or more species.
That these tiny, tiny birds have the brains to figure out their migration route from all over N. America to the wintering spots in Central and South America is almost unbelievable, except that it happens every year.
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I would like to point out, that in response to this essay- there are responses from all across our country- sharing similar experiences. Isnt that a good thing, that when it comes to love of nature, this country is NOT the geographically divided country it is often portrayed as?
Yet in the big overall picture, those who pay attention to nature, who garden, or birdwatch, or actual biologists in the field, are a minority in this modern world. That is just the way of technology- and I try everyday to think of ways to communicate better with people who are not thinking much about the perils facing the natural world right now.
I recently had a student who, in his video gaming project planned to develop virtual landscapes, so that when the world changes, future humans can see what was here.
It is terribly difficult to face the sadness and loss that young people feel- my future is a short dozen years at best- what will they see in 20-30?
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A thoughtful article. Thanks.
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We had two resident ruby-throats all Summer, a pair who got along fine at the feeder, and gave us many aerial delights. Then, in mid-August, calamity: two migrators came south out of Québec, and tried to take over our peaceful Lake Champlain beach. The biggest male was a classic loud bully, chirping madly before going into one of his diving attacks, replete with 8g pullouts right within the personal space of one of the others at the feeder. I got tired of the bully, and started shooting him with my water pistol. He learned to stand off, squawking, in only 6 tries. Human intervention, yes, but the other three certainly managed to get a bite to eat that way.
They're all gone now, wending their way south, leaving only the odd late-season monarch to keep us company. Love the hummers, but wow! some of them sure are irascible little buggers!
that's humming birds for you. I usually place two feeders wide apart or on opposite sides of the house. that usually gives piece a chance.
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This morning I filled the hummingbird feeders at my Dad's house for what is likely to be the last time. In case there is a straggler as he heads south I wanted to be sure that there was someplace for him to refuel on his way south.
My Dad passed away in April, and his house is for sale. Over the years, the hummingbirds have brought such joy to my Mom, my Dad, and me. Each spring we welcomed them back, happy that they remembered that they had a summer home here. Their endurance, resilience, and persistence of my hummies have inspired me in so many ways.
When I walk out the door of my parents' home for the last time, one of my great hopes is that the next family to live here will also welcome the hummingbirds each spring and make them welcome here too.
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@MAD Perhaps you may ask whomever does buy the house to do so. I can't fathom that there are people that would not welcome hummingbirds into their lives.
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@MAD When we bought our home 25 years ago we discovered an empty hummingbird feeder hanging outside the kitchen window. Our toddlers loved to watch the birds and over time both boys developed a love for nature. Leave the feeder with care instructions and a little hope for the future.
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@MAD - we're so sorry for your losses...
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Beautiful, Ms. Renkl. Thank you.
To the Editors of the NYT:
WE need more Margaret. Reading her work is like balm for my weary body, like succor for my nearly broken heart, like a calm herbal tea for my dread-filled brain.
Is twice weekly too much to ask ???
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Yesterday I saw (last?) hummingbird in Denver, I hope. On this Wednesday night temps will go down to 15 F with about 3" inches of snow. It had to be a traveler from the mountains, it drunk from the flowers and skipped the feeder. I guess it did not know...
I hate the feeling of putting away the hummingbird feeders for the winter, but I know few joys like the first sighting of a ruby-throated each year.
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Dozens of years ago, when I was a student at Penn State, I was living in a garden apartment complex. One morning as I looked out the large picture window that overlooked a magnificent garden of fruit trees and roses, I noticed the southwest el of the building, all three levels covered with blooming trumpet vine, was undulating. Thousands of hummingbirds were feasting on the orange blossoms. What an unforgettable sight!
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Hummingbirds are amazing. It's wondrous what they are able to accomplish with their tiny bodies. A friend on the west coast named all of her regulars, and when she left the windows open they would happily chase one another through one window and out another.
I highly recommend a little book called "A Hummingbird in my House." It will make you smile at a time when we could all use an emotional boost.
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A lovely reflection -- except for the undercurrent of dread spurred by the climatological commentary.
I, too, revel in the hummingbirds that hover to sip nectar from the honeysuckle vine outside the bathroom window. Our cat Truffle -- safely behind the window screen -- enjoys the view, too.
Our birds moved on a couple of weeks ago. Maybe they're at your feeder now.
As we, collectively, bemoan the changes and impacts we see in the plants, birds, insects, animals... practically every living thing on the planet... take a moment and realize that: Every gallon of gasoline we burn dumps 20 pounds of hot CO2/H2O into the atmosphere; Every kilowatt-hr of electricity that we consume dumps a few pounds of hot CO2 into the atmosphere; every mile we fly on a jet dumps half a pound of hot CO2 into the atmosphere; so we are dumping giga-tons of hot CO2 into the atmosphere every day. Maybe, just maybe, starting today... each of us could burn one less gallon of gasoline every week...since there are about 280 million vehicles in the US alone, such a token sacrifice would reduce CO2 dumping by many giga-tons every year... one gallon/week! Of course, we could also use less electricity, less food, less of almost everything we consume, routinely.
The Hummers will be pleased.
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Here on the Central Coast of California, many hummingbird species stay all year. Some just stop to fuel up before continuing to Mexico for the winter.
Like the butterflies, the population has dwindled dramatically.
What types of flowers and trees can we plant in the yard to attract them to eat and rest in a safe haven? We have a hibiscus and lemon tree, and many others native flowers and succulents, but I a would like a habitat to help them flourish (other than a hummingbird feeder with sugar water).
@Hope
Sages are wonderful- in our SoCal climate-
Native sages are good, but I also grow the tropical sages, Mexican sage, Wendy's Wish, etc. These are extremely drought tolerant too, and less flammable than the native, resinous sages. They are also easily propagated from cuttings, which I discovered when I left trimmings on the ground unintentionally.
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Here in the PNW there's still Anna's hummingbirds as they'll stay all winter. Their squeaky-rusted door hinge song along with the occasional loud, sharp "pip" sound can be heard all winter.
Last year we had two weeks of thick snow at sea level but many of the hummingbirds survived. Some have told me they leave their feeders out all year for the birds.
This year we've had more rain than usual and an early cold front that brought mountain snow, closing many of the passes for a few hours. It's cooler than the previous five Falls but the Pacific Ocean is still warmer than usual so I expect this will be a rainy winter!
The Anna's hummingbirds seem to be moving in as the woods get cut down for new developments. Anna's hummingbirds get along with humans much the way the ruby-throats do. "In the first half of the 20th century, the Anna's Hummingbird bred only in northern Baja California and southern California. The planting of exotic flowering trees provided nectar and nesting sites, and allowed the hummingbird to greatly expand its breeding range." Cornell Bird Lab.
The endemic species here, the Rufous hummingbird, is spectacular, but it's hard to see if you look for it. They're probably gone here too.
If you visit the forests here you can see one in the Spring and Summer. Looking for them is a waste of time but if you sit still outside for a few minutes then one will fly up to you and inspect the new item in their environment. Wear bright colors to attract one.
Like you we enjoy the thrill of watching our tiny friends flit, feed and fight around our yard all summer long. Unlike you we are lucky to have a variety, Anna's, that stay year round, rain wind and snow. I have taken to bringing their feeders in doors on frosty nights and have the added joy of being greeted by urgent buzzing when I return them each morning. Now I will think of those who have to wait until Spring for the joy of their Little Friends return. Wish I could add photos of them feeding in the snow.
Lovely, lovely lovely! Thank you!
I too live in Nashville and have created a habitat and refuge for the birds, insects, reptiles, marsupials and mammals.
This summer my front, back and alley garden were graced by many hummingbirds - I had planted Mexican Torch sunflowers for the Monarchs and bees, but to my surprise and delight, the hummingbirds absolutely loved them too! It seems the anatomy of the flower is perfectly suited for their beak :)
I highly recommend adding this plant to a wildlife garden for its inter species versatility and popularity.
Happy fall y'all!
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Thank you for your beautiful piece on one of my favorite subjects. As I was reading it, one of our Anna's Hummingbirds was on my window feeder looking at me. Here in the Pacific Northwest, these birds do not migrate, so we seem to have mostly the same birds all year long. So I keep the feeders going all year, even through a major snowstorms. And they seem to survive beautifully. Hopefully they will continue to thrive.
there is a term called solastalgia, which encompasses the grief and sense of loneliness when things, large and small, change as a result of climate change and human destruction (strip mining, deforestation, parking lots instated of parks). Ms. Renkl speaks to this feeling. As a life-long gardener I've watched the seasons shift and become unpredictable, plants that formerly flourished diseased and dying, pests and animal populations changing. I read the terrifying scientific evidence and records of these worldwide changes, and know that many of these changes are evolving at unprecedented speed.
Despite my sadness, I strive in my tiny bit of suburban land to create compost for worms, flowers for pollinators, seed grasses for birds. I too fear that next season, or ten seasons from now, the changes and losses have magnified beyond anything I ever imagined. Will this be the last summer we see lightning bugs or butterflies? Is this the last autumn the leaves turn brilliant instead of dropping off brown and mottled with virus spots? Will the living fairies that are hummingbirds someday become a myth to my grandchildren?
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We've had hummers pass through this fall, sipping the nectar from dozens of asters in bloom at migration. New England aster, smooth aster, sagittate-leaved aster, calico aster, sky blue aster, and Aster macrophylla in sprays of pink purple, pale purple, periwinkle and white. Sometimes individual blooms hang on for months past their hay day but its the masses of flowers and the old trees that bring birds to our yard.
Beautiful light in Michigan in October is not gentle but slanted at angles that make it gloriously uplifting. Amazing experience to have hummingbirds so curious and forthright in your very garden that you planned for them. You plant the asters and the spring woodland bloomers for them and they come to your yard. If you are out in the garden you might get to be with them before they pass us by.
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Reading this piece this morning has lightened my heart. I have spent the last week watching out for what may be the last glimpse of these amazing creatures for the season. Reading this short article today has brought me hope in the connections of humans to the natural world as well as a deep relief that there are so many people who focus their attention on so much more than themselves and the chaos of the never ending ‘news’ cycle.
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Beautiful and moving. Margaret Renkl's words of her environment mirror what I can say of mine. October in Wine Country usually brings us that crisp air, the light is neither bright nor glaring. But this year, more than last, our summer heat refuses to go away. One day I take out my fall clothes, the next I find myself donning summer togs. There is new growth on bushes that should not be there, not this time of year. Even butterflies continue their feeding on the flowers of my Trailing Lantana. Yet, no humming birds. Where are they? I can not tell you the last time I saw those precious little creatures. Was it our devastating fires? Perhaps. But why the fires; why the long, dry summers? Why so little rain? We sadly know the answer to these questions. If only the powers-that-be would pay attention more. However, that is not to be, not right now, and we know why.
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In late October in Nashville, running the trails at Radnor Lake or Warner Park where there are yellow maples and it is dry, the yellow maple leaves will carpet the ground. And if there is a breeze these leaves are blown up in a swirl, and it is like running suspended in a yellow cloud. A rain, or a little bit of moisture, and this disappears.
Our weather forecaster here in SF showed us that the jet stream was coming straight down the coast, bending across S. California and out across Texas and then up along the Mississippi River valley. The regions to its north were cooler and the regions to the south were unseasonably warmer which includes Nashville and Atlanta. The unusual pattern might be global warming, the change in upper atmosphere winds--more unpredictable--being one of the predicted effects of global warming/climate change, which our politicians in Tennessee say is not happening, one of them being a former chancellor of UT, who has actually sponsored bills in the Senate benefiting the oil industry (more drilling).
On Trinidad Head, where there is a trail that i run in N. CA, as far as i can tell the hummingbirds stay year round. There, they will dart up momentarily over the berry bushes, seemingly to inspect any intruder. Here, there is also a NOAA station in the global network that monitors CO2 in the atmosphere. CO2 ppm is still rising. Today, one teenager from Sweden draws the attention to this that it deserves. Let's hope she is heard in Tennessee.
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I’m glad I put my hummingbird feeder out last month. I was afraid that it was too late. But the hummers hit it hard every hour, every day.
I like to think that I helped save a life or two.
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Lovely piece. Pretty sure I've seen my last hummingbird of the season. The fiercest battle I saw was when one was happily feeding and another flew straight at her. She left the feeder and flew directly into the window I was watching her through. But apparently was unharmed and disappeared into the sky. Here in central Oklahoma I don't see them except during the hottest time of year, July until now. I filled the feeder around 6 times this year.
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I try to make my home a haven for birds all year round. Feeders and birdbaths are filled. Hummingbird feeders are at the front and back of my house, and I have a full bed of monarda and other hummingbird favorites. The backyard is filled with trees I planted. I try to keep everything organic. I see fewer and fewer birds and bats, and the mosquitoes attack the moment I step out the door. I feel like my little oasis is fighting a losing battle to pesticides, passing cats, and thoughtless people. The statistics confirm my fears. Thank you Ms Renkl for providing us with inspiration to keep trying.
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My reponse: Lots of tears.
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Carol Ussery Thank you for your lovely writing .....wait in spring for my first hummer ,,,,,one of Gods wonders with their beauty and personality .... here in NJ we only get one or twos each summer and they have been gone for maybe two weeks Again loved your fall essay ......
What a lovely column - upliftingly necessary in these parlous times. It's wonderful to know that "our" hummingbirds have perhaps found some respite at your feeders. Thank you for writing.
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Luckily, in Northern California, we have resident hummingbirds and a heavy migration population this time of year. They literally swarm my feeders on a daily basis. Hummingbirds are truly one of the joys in my life and I am dedicated to my many feeders. My family calls me the “crazy hummingbird lady” as I now have a small collection of hummingbird art in their honor. Feeding these little daredevils is a way to be amazed and enjoy and be reminded of the wonder of nature every time one appears.
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The turning of the seasons always makes me pause. Especially autumn. And when the humming birds leave, or the robins, I tell myself I’ll see them next year. Then I wonder if I actually will — never assume! — and I wonder how my world might change by the time I see them again. I don’t mean the big world and global warming. I mean my little world — all the people and things I hope or assume will still be here next spring. Everything changes, and you just never know. When I take the hummingbird feeders down I wonder what my life will be like when I hang them up next May.
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Our hummingbirds have left Michigan - probably at your feeder
Thanks
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Thank God for Margaret Renkl. What a gift.
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Thank you!
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Martin the Hummingbird: you need Vitamin Water in that feeder, lady.
Thank you, Margaret. I love your columns and I have your book on my nightstand to remind me of not only of what we have lost, but of what we still have. Here in Tucson, AZ, we have a least one type of hummingbird year-round. This time of year, we also have bats that drain the feeders overnight. A hummingbird has nested in a tree near our patio for two years in a row and we got to see the babies fledge both times. It feels a like a miracle when you consider how hard the hummingmoms have to work to keep them fed. I feel grateful every day to see such beauty.
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I love hummingbirds. Sitting on a rear open porch, a lit cigar in one hand and a cup of coffee on the railing, I see a hummingbird suspending itself in the air two feet in front of me. It looks at me and realizes in a few seconds that there is nothing edible on me. Then it moves another two feet to my side, to suck the nectar of the fuchsias, planted by my wife. No further attention to my presence.
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Hummingbirds are an example of the miracle of evolution and life on earth. With all the technology and science at our disposal, humans still can not replicate their extraordinary flight abilities. There are wonders all around us. Put down your devices and take the time to look around you.
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This was a great book with great vocabulary for young readers
What a beautiful story that you shared to fill a lonely soul.
Last year I had read an article about the hummers that stay until they perish. The elderly can no longer make the trip south. So I decided to leave the feeder up until the nectar froze. Sure enough a single hummer was visiting daily until December! So please consider extending your feeding for those in the twilight of their life.
This is great. Except for the differences in the region, the same applies here in New Mexico with the Black-chinned and Broad-tailed hummingbirds. They have just fled the scene. The males go first back to Mexico after breeding season, and the females around now, returning in mid-April. We grow many native xeric flowering plants that keep them around. We don't even need a feeder.
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I set out 3 "flying saucer" style humming bird feeders around my yard March 15th every year. The first hummers show up shortly after without fail. I have one feeder 3 feet from my porch chair and they come up to it with little fear. In fact, they investigate me about a foot from my face going back and forth for a bit and zooming off.
I too notice the last hummingbird to leave 3 weeks ago. She was smaller than the usual adult so I suspect she is from this years hatch. After tanking up at the feeder, she said goodby with a long flyby of my face and zooming off, I hope to Tennessee and Ms. Renkl's haven.
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Beautiful. Thank you, Margaret.
In the Willamette Valley Oregon our hummingbirds stay all year long; and I fret all winter how they stay alive and where they live in the cold, often below freezing temperatures. We have been feeding them for years. That one day soon we will no longer have the joy and privilege of watching these tiny fighter pilots sickens me. The other birds that have frequented the back yard for years are significantly - significantly - fewer. I have heard the trills of the and song of a few different birds for a couple years now - their song was common only a few years ago. Yesterday I saw a - a- robin, it was like seeing a rare bird - I threw mealworms out hoping that one single robin would come back and find those if it couldn't find any earthworms (also disappearing). My god - do all of us know what we have done and where we are headed - not in -50 but I feel far more likely in the next decade??? Humanity = shame.
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During this horrible drought, we have tried to keep feeders and water available for all of our feathered friends. We too watch the hummingbirds feed and wonder if any are still around at this point. We have been to Costa Rica and visited the areas set up for hummingbirds to winter. Thanks for a lovely article.
Hummingbirds are jewels of nature. To even get a brief glimpse is a blessing, to stand motionless and watch several hover and dance is a miracle. Feed them, don’t use any pesticides in your Yard, ever. They ARE canaries in a coal mine, for the Planet.
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@Phyliss Dalmatian
LOVE your comment. Your words are so true, across the board, yard and pond.
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@Marge Keller
Thanks, Dear. I want MORE Margaret, and much less of certain Male priest wanna-bes. Naming no names.
Also, last week wore me out. I’ve put the flannel sheets on the beds, hope to get some much needed comfortable, restorative Sleep.
Cheers.
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Dear two - @Marge Keller is, of course, exactly right, @Phyliss Dalmatian's words are as illustrative as Ms Renkl's, and that's saying a lot! But the comparison of the 'conservative' columnist to a priest is off the mark - his opus dei-level demands for so-called purity and perfection make regular rank and file priests look like hippies at Woodstock!
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Love those Hummingbirds!
You lost me at air conditioned house. Is it really so hard to be hot? A/c is a huge unnecessary is of energy which is destroying the planet. I have done without it for years, in a New York City tenement, and elsewhere. The temperature breaks sometime in the evening and if you are attuned to 'nature' (i.e. no a/c) you can glory in that and your body will thank you for being 'natural'.
I n other words I find an article hypocritical that purports to glorify nature with ine hand and helps destroy it -- and trumpets that activity - in the next.
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Beautiful essay, thank you.
You are a tremendous writer.
Beautiful article, as always and your writing is the reason that I have a subscription to the NY Times.
We love our hummers. Here's an amazing fact:
To migrate across the Gulf of Mexico, NONSTOP, the hummer gorges herself on nectar on the west coast of Florida. This means doubling her weight with 2 g (that's grams) of nectar.If they can navigate 550 miles on 2 g of fuel, then if they had a gallon of nectar they could fly 858,000 miles. (2x15x16x6.5x550)
Please add a cleaned everyday water dish to your feeders. It can be in something as simple as a pie pan, but the birds and critters need the water too...
Aside from having to endure the Titans and Volunteers you have my condolences for the October departure of your hummingbirds. Here in Coastal California we have Anna's Hummingbirds year-round.
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The Anna hummingbird is our year-round resident. Slightly larger and less aggressive than the Ruby throats or the Rufous hummingbirds, ours seem to travel in pairs. A few times a year, we have snow, and I bring the feeder in for the night. My backyard pets are waiting for me to put it back out in the morning. Those hummingbirds are beautiful treasures.
2
@Texas girl
I meant to say that our Anna hummingbirds are in Portland Oregon, where I live now... I will be refilling the feeders this morning..
A lot of the world survives without AC even in record breaking heat. I did so during my childhood, it was uncomfortable but I lived. I promise to try again to live that way because it is only then that we can make a true change to our heating planet, one person at a time. Thanks for alerting my conscience!
2
I stopped using feeders when mine became completely filled with ants and flies.
They completely filled the containers and their decomposing bodies became a smelly mess.
I have filled the yard with native shrubs and flowers, and so attract a delightful mix of animals and insects.
But what must I do better with the hummingbird feeders to keep them from being completely filled, and thus useless, with flies?
@Scott I had the same issue and did some reading. Color is important. Yellow attracts bees. Select feeders with red and white, but no yellow. Ants are easy to get rid of with an ant cup attachment hanging over the feeder. It is important to clean the feeder and change the solution once or twice a week. Keeping feeders clean keeps hummers healthy.
1
They sell ant traps that go above the feeders. Just a cup you fill with water. No pesticides. No more ants in my sugar water.
Place Double sided Tape on the ants path.
Of course one of the reasons the planet is now hotter is the air-conditioning almost everyone now uses to insulate themselves from the real world. It's a vicious circle that will end badly: AC heats the planet so we use more AC, and the more we retreat indoors, the more we deny that the real world is changing.
3
Here in the Triad of North Carolina, I'm still seeing and hearing the hummers while I tidy up the worst of the garden weeds. We are also experiencing significant drought conditions. Yesterday, I watched a juvenile hummer nectar at every single red salvia in the garden, passing on the feeder to do so. Although these plants aren't native to our area, they are drought tolerant, easy to grow, and provide invaluable sustenance for the late arrivals. The hummers you have visiting your garden this year may return to your garden each year until they die. What better reason for including a satisfying oasis of nectar to help them on your journey? Thank you, Margaret, for expressing exactly how I feel when I see my beautiful little friends depart in the fall. Here's hoping they all make the long round trip
and return to us next year!
5
Beautiful and very similar to my experiences here in Cincinnati.
2
I live in northern Colorado. I think I saw two hummingbirds this year. I never see a lot, they prefer the mountains. Reading about the loss of birds I am frightened that this our future. I love hummingbirds. I hope next year is different but I'm not feeling optimistic.
1
Lately I feel like "the last hummingbird", hanging on while searching for much needed nectar to help endure these past few weeks of political mayhem as well as the coming weeks and months, knowing that things will get much worse before they get better.
10
I do love your beautiful articles on nature! Thank you.
14
Stepping outside in the mornings for many years I heard an orchestra of birds loudly welcoming the day, each day. Not as much anymore though.
We have lost billions of birds and other species we are told in the last few decades and this has to be for several reasons: 1) pesticides killing off insects that birds feed on; 2) in my neighborhood there is what the city calls a nature preserve. I used to play with my dog in the evenings and watch the bats swarm out and consume the mosquitoes. Then the city installed numerous owl huts high on poles. The owls then consumed the bats and now the mosquitoes have no natural predator there. Needless to say we now have swarms of mosquitoes. The point being that humans have no clear idea about how to protect animal habitats or the animals themselves.
Thank you for your columns on nature.
12
Thank you NYT and Margaret Renkl for some fresh air in the news to bring us back to the present moment and what is happening outside our windows, which is ever more important that what may or may not be happening within crowded halls. Hope for the future rests on these slight and lovely birds.
13
Beautifully written and nearly perfect (but it's "farther north," not "further": distance) but for keep up with the spray that nourishes insects. Hummingbirds would die if all they had to eat was nectar. They need the protein they get from consuming small insects.
5
Please keep your feeders up a bit longer this year. We are still seeing hummers at our feeder in West Lafayette, IN as recently as yesterday. Perhaps they are delaying their departure due to the unusually warm weather we had until very recently. Each day I think it will be the last for this year; I've seen none so far today, but there may be a visitor this evening pausing for a drink of nectar.
4
Most of our hummingbirds have left--perhaps a dozen remain to visit our feeders. But we now have nectar (leaf-nosed) bats draining our feeders each night. They have apparently expanded their range north, perhaps because of all of the feeders in our area. So we will keep them filled while they are around.
4
I have also put out a bird bath - just a large flower pot liner - and thrill watching the birds come daily to drink and bathe. Of course, I use no pesticides or chemicals in my garden, and whenever I add another layer of mulch, it's fun to see the birds come digging through it, flinging it this way and that, in their search for worms and other places to bury things.
Nature is food for the soul and our link to survival.
9
Thanks for this beautiful piece. I love to think of 'my' hummingbirds, who lived and were watched and nurtured on our feeders and bergamot all summer, being stewarded by other bird-lovers on their amazing and dangerous migration south.
Also writing to point out that survival *is* joy. Having thirst or hunger satiated, especially when it's unexpected, becoming well after injury, or healthy after illness-- there are few joys that are greater, or more worthy of celebration and dance. I'm confident animals know this emotion as well as we do.
10
Ms. Renkl:
Beautiful! The way you articulate what you see into words that paint a picture for lucky readers such as myself, is quite simply a work of art! Keep up the good work - I enjoyed this article immensely.
20
I am a birder.
I can remember seeing my 1st hummer with great joy.
I have used natural means aka flowering plants and artificial means aka feeders to attract them to my environs.
I love introducing family and friends to the joys of hummingbirds.
9
Thank you for this. Your essays are the beautiful October light that I need to get me through these dark times.
21
Tears of beauty and sadness fill my eyes.
7
Ms. Renkl, you write beautifully about nature. I share your feelings but am unable to express myself as eloquently as you do. I also share your feelings about a grass lawn. We moved into our house back in 1978, and I made the decision at that time to eliminate grass. It has proven to be a good one because my yard has a diversity of plants, and I don't have to pour chemicals into it.
14
Lovely article. Deserves a lovelier header photograph!
6
And while the Midwest was sizzling, during our visit to Central Oregon last weekend, we drove through a blizzard. Thank you for a lovely piece!
5
My dozen + hummingbirds left on Tuesday, August 20th. Here one day, carrying on high, and gone the next. A few stragglers came through. The hummingbirds provide evening entertainment for the best part of the summer. A gin & tonic, a seat with a view of the feeders and flowers, and let the entertainment begin!
Now it's time for the chickadees and nuthatches to provide the daily entertainment - and that will last all winter.
Thanks Margaret for a lovely essay.
22
I also live in Mid TN, and last week noticed that there were - for the first time in several months - no more hummingbirds at my backyard feeders. Wishing them all a safe journey to their southern winter habitat.
10
What a beautiful piece this is, Margaret. It is very bittersweet to think back to my childhood fifty-plus years ago and remember all the little gifts of nature that we just took for granted. Whatever happened to fireflies/lightening bugs? I don’t think I have seen one in years. The autumns of my childhood are no longer.....neither are the winters.
Safe travels, little ones.
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@Nan
Curiously we have lots of fireflies this year in my urban backyard. June & July were the best months. Also one evening in July I counted a dozen dragonflies (at least, they are hard to count) feasting on whatever was flying at the second story level. Now that was magical!
37
@Nan
We too have had a continuous light show in the summer evenings because of the fireflies. The back yard lights up like Cubs baseball park. What a treat to see these little beauties blinking and moving about in total darkness except for their tiny beacons of illumination.
A number of years back we began leaving our grass clippings on our lawn, thus giving them the chance to decompose, releasing water and nutrients back into the soil as well as allowing for fireflies to hatch their young in safe and undetected surroundings.
16
@Salix From my mid-Catskills deck, there were plenty of fireflies all summer. Thank you for this delightful piece from another devotee of these ruby-throated, joy-giving marvels. Their vertical orientation--are they alone among birds to have that?
5
Here in the northeast, our resident hummingbirds migrated before the equinox. No more fights and turf defending for the goods. Those April - September battles which I always delight in witnessing are over. Some years, I have waited to put out the feeders until I see a scout dancing around where the feeder should be (how do they know this so well?), this year I had it all loaded for them. So it was game on immediacy. I wish there was a way tell who is who in the battles (bird face recognition?) - who just snuck in a feed, who are are allowed feeders (sometimes 3 drinkers at one time) and where do the defeated eat? In the height of feeding I see as many as 7 battling.
Since September 15th, I refilled the two feeders I have and joyed to watch migratory hummingbirds stop and drink. This is sporadic and they don't stay too long. Alas haven't seen one for over a week now.
Then our own in-house seasonal dance began. Who is going to turn the heat on first? The inside got down to 57 this weekend. That was enough. It's on now. I still have the hummingbird feeders out but I doubt I'll see another hummer until the spring.
Thank you for the wonderful article, Margaret.
10:04
9
My garden, on the eastern shore of Maryland, is a mess, too. The geese are back already, but I think it will be spare pickings this year. I, too, have done everything I can think of to assist the birds and insects weather the onslaught of unusual weather, lack of rain, and perfidious applications of poison. It worries me to death that our government has done all in its power to speed the demise of these necessary life factors. NO birds, no insects, no food.
17
How very lovely, Ms Renki. I've been feeling the very same things here in Mississippi. The tiny birds at my feeder carry my heart with them when they head south across the Gulf in their arduous migration. I loathe to see them go and miss them when they're gone. It fills my heart with unfathomable joy to see their return every year and I hope, against hope, that the new year's return will bring them back in the same fierce abundance that has endured since time immemorial. God help us if we cannot save these tiniest of creatures as harbingers of the season's changes. If we cannot, how can we continue to exist without them and all their kin?
15
Enjoyed this article.
I sit daily on a front porch swing and watch hummingbirds take possession of the five feeders that I am committed to. The bully of each feeder defends his territory sitting close by. As of yesterday, and after filling the feeders, I was saddened to not see any hummingbirds at all. I imagined their flight, their migration finding their places to fatten up, before crossing the gulf. I read that they remember the places to feed from. I literally wished them well.
Like the slowing sound of crickets in the evening, the disappearance of the hummingbirds just signals a new season. This record heat in the south has been brutal.
Hummingbirds fascinate me and are a joy to watch even as they defend their own feeder.
9
Your op-eds should be "breaking news". Everybody needs to read them. I'm writing this as a craving reader of political news. They account for the basic facts at the core of our human species. Wishing that the hummingbirds that left my garden in Quebec some weeks ago made it to Tennessee and further on.
21
There won’t be a breaking news bulletin when the last hummingbird flies away. No press release, no photos, no video, no social media. Just a hollow place in the world that was once filled by a beautiful living creature, now gone forever. Our mass extinction is well underway — unless we do something very big and very soon.
64
Hummingbirds make me feel guilty when I have not refilled the feeder in time. Of if they land and take off without sipping, suggesting that maybe I need to clean the feeder, too. They tell me, like my indoor cats, that I am a bad person!
9
Lovely. A respite from the ugly news bombarding us from every direction.
I'll enjoy the image of the flying jewels all day!
10
Oh, how I miss them when they're gone.
5
I have no doubt that the birds in your garden experience joy.
6
What a beautifully felt piece of writing! It has made me wish I were still teaching writing - I would have many of your beautiful sentences on the board for analysis of their power.
The scarcity of hummingbirds at me feeder this summer has concerned me as our world aches with political unrest and stupidity. I am reminded of Wordsworth's lines:
"The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!"
11
Yes here in Arizona we saw fewer hummingbirds this year. The feisty Rufus was a no show! Only one Blackchinned hummer is still here! We always pray for rain!
3
" One day they will leave and be gone for good. But no matter how long I stand at the window and watch, I will never know which time will be the very last." I didn't know Humming Birds were on the endangered species list. I think the author will be gone first.
While I haven't seen many Hummers in the past ten days - my blue knight Salvia are still in full bloom so I'm sure the little munchkins are around using my yard for their rest stop on their long journey south.
Bon Voyage little ones. Till we meet again, I will miss you.
4
In Seattle, we're lucky to have them year round.
4
For those of us who are old enough to remember what normal seasons were, it is important to put all our support behind climate initiatives that might help save our climate for future generations of life. We are in a period of unprecedented stupidity right now. A few bright spots keep popping up as we mostly ignore what scientific knowledge is warning us about. Take time to notice everything beautiful in nature around you because it may be the last time you see it. Our current self-destruction mode will hit us like a tidal wave when our planet reaches the saturation point of no return.
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@Bella
Absolutely.
I suspect one of the primary reasons that so many of the young people who are overwhelmingly the leaders of Climate activism are also avid supporters of Bernie Sanders has to do with his unapologetic foregrounding of the Climate Crisis. If the youth trust him to keep his word on taking the bold steps necessary to reverse this untenable loss of life, then the adults and elders among us would do well to take his people-powered movement more seriously.
The time is long overdue to take a new measure of progress - where profit motives are no longer the standard, but increases in biodiversity become a readily observable marker of success.
7
@Waabananang Great comment, I agree!
4
@Bella
Wonderful post. Terribly sad and haunting, as it should be.
I would add only one thing - After “unprecedented stupidity” I would add “and massive, ruinous greed”.
Our ruby throated hummingbirds left our mountain home on September 11th this year. I took the feeders down this weekend in case there were any late travellers. That NJ, Quebec and your state should all share such a wonder just amplifies my fear of what we are doing to our planet. Thank you for this article on the day that Extinction Rebellion is protesting the climate crisis in so many places in the world.
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@Peter McAuslan
Just Curious. Do you know what migration path they take when they leave Quebec?
Here in Oregon our Hummers don’t migrate, they’re here year ‘round and I need to keep my feeders free from ice in February. Migrations are fantastic, but how how a tiny bird with a ravenous metabolism can survive the winter (I know, they go into a torpor overnight) is truly miraculous! There’s evolution for ‘ya...
5
Here in Seattle, some species over winter. The combination of moderate winters, heavily forested lands and both planned and natural plantings of hummingbird flowers. We see ours daily and continue to keep food available for them.
4
Thank you, Margaret, for helping to fuel our summer residents, gone now on their journey south. Here in the Catskills the hummingbirds vanish en masse around labor day. We speculate that they must discuss the precise timing of their departure among themselves and then, having reached consensus, slip away when we're not looking. Like you I leave our feeders out for the travelers stopping by from points north. Unlike our summer residents who view our feeders like the corner coffee shop, these passers by are far more tentative. They stop, watch, perhaps attempt an experimental landing and then, some drink while other more cautious individuals move on. Our feeders came down two weeks ago. They have been washed, dried, and put away until spring. I regret their departure but if they never left I wouldn't know the joy of their return.
9
Worldwide, there are more than 320 different species of hummers, none are found outside the Americas; many are confined to the American tropics. Mexico’s 50 different species of hummingbirds represents one-sixth of the worlds hummingbirds, the greatest concentration and biodiversity of the picaflor / colibrí in the world! VIVA MEXICO
11
“Margaret are you grieving over golden grove unleaving?”
Many thanks for this tenderly written essay.
10
For an hour or so, most mornings and afternoons, my summer has been spent on my front porch enjoying my birds at my feeders. Coffee in the morning and either a G&T or jalapeno margarita in the afternoon.
I especially loved watching my hummingbirds as they flew all around my yard eventually ending up at my feeders. Sadly, yesterday morning was the last I saw of them. I didn't see any yesterday afternoon nor this morning. It appears they have headed south.
I'm lucky, though. They are supposed to head south at the end of August and I was able to enjoy them an extra month.
4
Thank you for your lovely piece.
Please note, though, that it's best not to feed hummingbirds this late, as they may delay migrating and will die.
4
What an absolutely lovely and gorgeous piece of writing. My morning is brighter for having read it. Thank you.
8
@ Margaret...I wonder if the birds you are feeding are the babies who frolicked in my Catskill garden all summer while their parents pollinated? Seeing hummingbirds close up caused me to stop using all but a few organic insecticides. Now a giant toad lives in the strawberry bed and a snake lives among the kale. A fly catcher raised its family in a tree near the tomatoes. They startle me sometimes, but are such welcome partners in our common pursuit of sustenance. All of us reading this article are connected by air, water and migrating wildlife. The care we give for our wildlife on our little plots of land may seem insignificant. But if millions, or better yet, billions of us take better care in our part of the earth, we can have an impact. As can our votes and voices. Wherever you live, please don’t despair. Demand leaders who commit to caring for the environment including these lovely little hummingbirds.
21
I do appreciate this well-expressed column. The value of change is often difficult to assess. Sometimes it’s a welcome relief; sometimes it’s deeply regrettable and not. Accepting the loss of what had previously provided joy and cheer and hope, is hard ... because of attachment at personal level. Indeed, loss per se may remind one in one way or other of death. And yet the miracle of being alive and adaptive goes on, at least potentially so to be realized. It is the staying-still that ought to be of concern. Knowledge is not entirely certain. Holding but grasping lightly is about all one can do for the sake of heath. If what comes from change, wanted or not wanted, is a sense of gratitude and humility ... which, by grace, can be the case ... one might be at the right place to be in real being.
3
I like to think some of the hummingbirds that spent the summer at my house in Connecticut are passing through your yard. My husband and I miss them and look forward to their safe return.
6
What a wonderful article! I recently put out a hummingbird feeder on my balcony and am blessed with so many visitors. I don't know if they are coming from Tennessee or just live here.
They are usually brown and can come in groups showing no fear of the large Terrier looking out from the balcony over the valley we live above. Feeding is something we can do.
5
@Virginia ....No. The hummingbirds in Tennessee are Ruby Throats and migrate to the Caribbean. What you are probably seeing are mostly Rufus on their fall migration. It is interesting that in the spring they migrate up the pacific cost and in the fall they migrate down the interior. Look carefully and you may find a few short dumpy Calliope hummers among them. If you have the feeders out in the spring/summer you will probably have black-chinned and broad-tailed humming birds and depending on your elevation very possibly several others. Mexico is blessed with dozens of different kinds.
1
I'm here in Mexico, Margaret, welcoming your summer birds to my winter acreage. No rain here in the winter, but five birdbaths keep everyone watered and bathed. No seeds or other birdfood put out for them, because they will have bugs, fruit and seeds galore. Maybe we have shared some of the same individuals. A lovely thought.
18
We are also experiencing drought here in southern Delaware leaving everything browned out. Birds of all kinds seem less numerous this year including the geese. We had a couple of hummingbirds feeding from our honeysuckle vine, nepeta, and sunflowers this year a first for us. It must be true you plant it and they will come.)
8
My hummers left around the time of the fall equinox, but I've kept the feeders filled for any possible stragglers. And for a downy woodpecker who quite likes the nectar too!
13
I live in a condo and don't have my own yard to plant, but I do have flowers in containers on my deck and I love it when I'm visited by hummingbirds. I hear the sort of buzzing their wings make and there they are, sticking their noses in my flowers. I keep a pair of small binoculars handy so I can study them when they are still. So beautiful they are. Thanks for this article--a breather in the midst of so much awful Trump stuff in the paper.
18
I loved this piece. Hummingbirds are not in abundance here but I see more feeders yearly with random reports of success. Next year I will get one too. A little inspiration goes a long way. Winter project is research for plants on the apartment balcony. Thank you Margaret.
11
The last sentence is one I now ask myself every time I see the first spring beauty bloom in the spring and also when I realize I have seen the last hummingbird at my feeders in October. There are very few firsts in life, particularly when I consider I didn't think about what I see until I was older. One year I will be gone and that spring beauty in my yard will have to celebrate without me.
18
I was on several University committees a couple of decades ago. I was lucky enough to have lunch with some of the scientist from the US National Center for Atmospheric Research. I heard optimistic and pessimistic views of the future consequences of climate change. The pessimistic views were/are terrifying. The optimistic views required a hopeful view of human action. Renki's opinion piece drives home the same message of climate change. It is here and we need to act. I live at 7400 feet and I've seen the change in the birds that come to my feeders. I use to have to fill the feeders ever two or three days. Now it can be a week before I need to perform a refill. The variety of birds and their number have decreased and this is noticeable to this novice bird watcher.
11
Thank you for this bright spot in this crazy world. I came across this unexpectedly and what a jewel of a writer, such beautifully written prose. I will look forward to this now every week.
I write a monthly column for my NW village on the seasonal changes around Puget Sound. I recognize the hand of a master.
21
Ms. Margaret-your writing is purely poetic and a breath of fresh air. Here in Belize our hummingbirds are mostly year round, but we , too, are in a drought. On the subject of them aggressively fighting: I noticed the same thing when I was up in California once and in a yard with numerous feeders. Although there are numerous in my yard here, I have never observed that type of aggression, but then again, I don't have feeders-only a lot of plants. It made me wonder if the sugar water, as opposed to the natural flower nectar, made that difference.
8
Margaret, your fine observations on nature usually lift me up a bit. This column left me sad though. The last time I saw a bluebird I was surrounded by a flock of them in the Sangre de Cristo foothills outside Pueblo in 1992. Now in mid-Michigan, I've not seen one since. Where did they go?
11
My hummers are starting to show up a few days earlier and leave a few days later the last few years. This year there seemed to be more, at least as compared to the last few years, but noticeably less than 5-10 years ago. As this country and the planets resources are increasingly used to: grow, feed, house, employ etc the every increasing number of humans, there will be, by necessity, less of the worlds resources available for other species. From a million species threatened with extinction worldwide to 25% of mammals in the U.K. in danger of extinction we are forcing the other inhabitants of the planet to go away-permanently. Not only will this destructive behavior in the end come back to bite us, but it makes for a far less interesting world in the meantime.
17
Ms. Renkl, today is my birthday. I began it by reading your lovely, beautifully written column. I can’t think of a better and more meaningful way to start this day. Thank you.
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@MarniJ
Happy birthday! What a lovely tribute to Ms. Renkl.
8
@MarniJ Have a wonderful, beautiful day. You are well worth celebrating. Many blessings to you in your coming year.
6
Happy Birthday to you!
3
Our hummingbird feeder is still hanging, hoping to nourish our flying jewels one last time this season. But, I have not seen them for three days now. I record the dates each year that they leave us here in Charlotte to fly so far south and this time frame coincides with their usual departure. My husband planted a variety of Mexican sunflower this year that grew very tall, hardy and splendid. To our amazement these flowers have attracted a colorful array of flying creatures and our hummers. These flowers stand tall to provide a beacon to rest upon and provide nourishment to the last travelers of this past season, as I sadly watch my empty hummingbird feeder.
14
@jean I have planted Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia) and in September was rewarded with Monarch and other butterflies like never before.
7
@jean -- I also live in North Carolina, and I think my hummers have headed south, too. Haven't seen them for several days.
I have an Airbnb, and my guests have loved the hummingbirds.
Thanks for the tip on sunflowers. Will plant them next year.
5
@JaneM. Thanks so much for this tip about sunflowers. If they do so well in MA, I assume they would also flourish here in my urban PA garden, and will try them next year. Even here in the city, I'm amazed by the various birds I can attract to my small garden and would love to cultivate more butterfly-friendly plants as well.
1
Thanks for this salute to Hummingbirds, a welcome relief from all the other news, but still a sad note to the prospect of worsening climate change.
12
I love your writing, Margaret; you tell wonderful stories that are so often balm for my soul, like this one. Our summer hummingbirds could well be visiting your feeders on their long flight south, so thank you for keeping them filled! Our so-called lawn is also being taken over by wildflowers; right now tiny asters, the last flowers of our season, are buzzing with bees. I won't mow until they're done.
32
Margaret, when I see a column with your byline, I know my eyes will fill with tears and I’ll have a lump in my throat by the time I’ve finished... Your words make me observe the world much more closely, and savor my place in it. They make me take better care of it, and teach my grandchildren to do the same. Thank you.
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@NinaMarg
I, too, know that Margaret will touch my heart and send me outdoors to look with wet eyes, again.
My hummingbird feeder is still up though the crowd has passed on. I always allow an extra week in case a late traveler happens by.
Many, many thanks, Margaret. Again.
1
We believe our last ones left a week or so ago. The one "still" here is just passing through and refueling. She looks different. After a while you can tell.
There has been a huge loss in all types of birds here this year. Some of it drought and some subdivision sprawl especially in Loudoun County where there seem to be no bounds on growth, no matter what the official words may be.
It's not cats. The 3 regular chipmunks are storing up the peanuts.
6
@Rick Tornello Elsewhere "it's cats, Rick.
1
Very nice piece for the birders. Our Ruby Throats have left. Saluting Tennessee, places further south. They can zoom by and miss your ear by a millimeter. For fun.
We still have good numbers of warblers working the area for the crop of insects and spiders.
Monarchs are waiting out the rain today, Sailing off in good numbers on beautiful fall days. Something so fragile can command the wind and die on a bumper the next second.
So far so good. The future is a bit worrisome.
9
@daniel lathwell Here in central NC, a monarch crossed into the sidelines at my son's soccer game, narrowly missed the tussling tangle of players that rushed into its flight path, and disappeared into the impending twilight.
4
I saw a "hummer" yesterday at my basil plants. I let basil go to flower and stand long after the early season sweet leaves are harvested for a place in my favorites dishes because their flowers attract hummingbirds. Even though the sugar feeder is right next to the plant, the bugs eaten won out over the sugar. I leave a feeder up for weeks past the date for late stragglers.
The joy I feel when I first see a hummer in the Spring holds a place of unsurpassed emotion. Let that be the antidote to a wistful Fall goodbye.
18
I hope you don’t feel guilty about using water for your yard - notice I didn’t say lawn. All the surrounding creatures, great and small, need water and many are likely desperate for it during these unseasonable droughts.
Sometimes my little koi pond is like a jungle watering hole with relays of different creatures dropping by.
17
@Nancy We give several frogs respite from the lack of rain (its end of winter here in the southern hemisphere) with our little water feature in the garden. Please remember the frogs and make water available to them in the dry months if you can, they are also under great pressure!
12
@Mark Crozier
I love those noisy little frogs. I’ve also decided not to cover my pond with the net that catches fall leaves because I’m worried that even a short coverage period will be too detrimental. I just keep scooping leaves.
7
Thanks for some great thoughts. The winged racing cars have left our backyard several weeks ago.Off to warmer lands until next year. Then who will be the first to appear? The same one that left the year before ? The calming thoughts of bird watchers..
9
Thank you. I need to replace my hummingbirds feeders with fresh sugar water, it only attracts them when it’s fresh. They are mesmerizing.
8
At the end of this piece, yet another wonderful treat from Ms. Renkl, the song, Turn, Turn, Turn began playing in my head.
Nothing but mildly amusing coincidence, but the band's name was, of course, the Byrds.
15
The writer of that song was once blacklisted "Pete Seeger" and it is based on a part of the King James Bible. The Byrds popularized it with their "folk rock" arrangement.
2
My neighbor and I put out feeders and plant hummingbird vine for them. We sit on different sides of the fence politically right down to climate change and its cause. But about birds, especially hummingbirds, we meet on common ground with a common purpose and shared joy.
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This is the exact reason I will not install air conditioning, we should all feel uncomfortable and do something about global warming
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I try to get my grandbaby engaged with nature. At age 12 she's more interested in unicorn cake, makeup and filching from her Meemaw's vast handbag collection. She has more sophistication with the use of her personal electronics than most 60-year-olds and could give a hoot about dumb stuff like birds. She's the reason we need to educate young people about nature before they turn off from it completely to work another thread on their phone...
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@Tournachonadar
The internet, rather than informing and enlightening us has helped create a vast army of blank eyed, zombie consumers. I think our "leaders" call it "progress". Maybe it's time to stop and consider what we are progressing to.
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My last hummingbird feeder is coming down today! I haven’t seen any of my little friends for the past two weeks. I released my last two monarch butterflies two days ago! It’s getting cold here so I hope they make it to Mexico. The beauty and predictability of nature has been a godsend in these trying times.
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Oddly, here in the Boston area, we are still seeing a few Monarchs. Even more oddly, we've seen many more of them than in past years. Maybe it is because of the decline in the honeybee population leading to less competition?
A beautiful piece by Ms. Renkl.
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@d ascher Death of the honeybees could not be an explanation for Monarch population growth. They are both negatively affected by the use of chemicals, as Rachel Carson showed us in '62. No, it's the human concern for other life in nature that Carson sparked in another generation, and campaigns -like that of David Suzuki in Canada - promoting the growth of milkweed upon which the Monarch butterfly is completely dependent for reproduction. Lawsuits against the purblind purveyors of poisons have helped.
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Thank you Margaret. You are my first read of the day...and should be my last. Just can't stop looking at the train wreck ahead.
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I also thank you,when I read your writings it's like that little sip of sugar water,it gets me through the day
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For weary, modern Travelers, your rest stops are welcome relief.
“They rest, one at a time, on the feeder’s perch and drink and drink and drink. Then they lift into the air, weightless, immune to the pull of gravity, and take cover again in the still-green leaves of a nearby tree.”
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Thank you for this beautiful piece. But the sadness of what we are losing is killing me.
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@Katherine "Courage ,my friends...'Tis not too late to build a better world." (Tommy Douglas, the "greatest Canadian."
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I love Renki’s stories. They are in a class of what I consider relief from the doom and gloom world of politics, economics and conflict news. Her voice speaks to me like a minister or a poet. There are a several others who I read or hear that resonate in a similar way. Rob McCall’s Awanadjo Almanac broadcast on WERU station from Blue Hill, Maine, our UU minister who shares weekly musings and wisdom’s or lines from Wendell Berry, to name a few. Thank you Margaret Renki, for taking the time to notice small wonders like hummingbirds in October light.
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The Autumn gaze and galore of migrating "ruby-throated hummingbirds drinking from the feeders" in Middle Tennessee is what I anxiously await with such glee and joy in Spring when these little pearls of beauty return for the season.
I found them in early April this year which surprised me because I thought it was still a tad too cool for them to arrive. But within twenty minutes, I had three feeders up and ready for them to drink to their delight.
Nothing is more gracious than a hummingbird and no one describes them and nature better than Margaret Renkl.
Thank you for another wonderful and beautiful article!
You are the Monday morning nectar I need to face the week.
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@Marge Keller - lovely turn of phrase - yes, nectar for the week!
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Thank you. No rain in forever here. Sprinkler hopes to save some Beautyberry for the birds and quench butterflies drinking from leaves.
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Thank you. I’m two hours south of you, full of similar wistfulness at the crumbling loveliness that remains.
Thank you to the NYT for giving a writer like Margaret the space and prominence for such rumination.
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Thank you for this beautiful, tender article and for the many lovely comments written here. I woke this morning worried about a harsh issue that is affecting my hometown. Thank you to all who have written here for sharing thoughts so beautiful they have softened this day.
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Reading this piece just breaks my heart because I live in rural France and I have observed the birds while feeding them every day for almost fifteen years and what is happening in mid Tennessee is happening here. The same late summer heat and drought right up to late September. The same crushing effect on the flora and fauna.
When I first came to live here there were so many birds. The garden in spring and autumn was always full of them. There were five different kinds of finches and they were plentiful in number. In the past ten years the number and variety of birds has crashed. Most of the finches are gone.
No animal can adapt to a change in the climate that occurs at the speed that our climate is changing now. So we lose so much that is dear to us and would have been equally dear to those who are to come.
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@RHR
In those same 10 years, while, the birds have been disappearing, the number of humans on the planet has increased by over 800 million. It's not a coincidence.
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@AT
Yet here we all are, drawing the air and drinking the water that Earth is still managing to supply for our basic existence.
Imagine if key elements of the normalized lifestyle of the "first world" among us were not so very egregiously myopic as to favor the money makers over the common good. One easy switch : lay off the pesticides and herbicides and riding lawnmowers that are parcel to default green grass aesthetics, and instead cultivate a chemical-free haven of wildflowers and trees at our every residence and public space.
It is absurd for our leaders to protect the mega-corporate interests of Dow and Monsanto and the like, when our very dependence upon the natural world is on the precipice.
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@Waabananang
I agree. We should be doing most everything differently. However, there is no economic system, no technological fix, no lifestyle change that can over come the effects of ~8 billion humans on the planet, even when most live very simple, desperate, poverty stricken lives (3 billion live on less than 2.5$/day). We have opted for quantity of quality when I comes to human life and almost all species are paying the price. Take the US. In my lifetime the population has doubled. There have been some economic gains from this, but the lost open space, lost species, used resources, co2 produced etc cannot be gotten back.
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Waking early and scrolling through the constant dreadful news on my cellphone, your lovely piece draws me into the world of light and rain (or the lack thereof) and hummingbirds. For a few moments your reminders of the beauty and grace of nature comfort me. I will try to hold on to such delights until your next prose poem. Thank you.
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This summer I seeded Evening Primrose. I had several plants all summer. Hummingbirds love the nectar, and it is extremely drought-tolerant. It's also a native plant, so it provides food to our native bugs (also in decline).
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The hummingbirds we had all summer left about two weeks ago. They may be traveling through Tennessee right now. We have been so dry during August and September—a big contrast from last year, our wettest ever.
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Another beautifully written column, taking us so intimately into nature's heart, and into your heart's sanctuary. Thankyou Margaret
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I fear we might soon have a double loss. With the alterations in climate we may have not just the last hummingbird of the season but the last hummingbird for all time.
Already we are told 30% of the birds have been killed off for habitat loss, predation from house cats, environmental toxins and who knows what else.
The canaries in the cages in our coal mine Earth are falling off their perches. We need to pay attention and get the hint.
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As an expat living in Italy, one of the few things I miss from the U.S. are hummingbirds. We don't have them in this part of the world. I have to be satisfied with the little hedgehogs which we didn't have in the States!!!
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There is an indelible moment in my adult life, for which I can still summon up the sounds, the colors, the August heat and a feeling of absolute bliss. I was completely on my own somewhere near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon when a ruby-throated hummingbird suddenly began hovering a few feet in front of me. The air was so still I could hear the buzzing sounds of its wings, I froze, and while it stayed it seemed almost magical.
When I recall that moment now, it seems extraordinary to reflect that although I had one of the earth’s greatest geological wonders spread out before me for hundreds of miles, what I remember the most clearly about that day is that tiny bird.
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I don't know if the author will read this comment, but I'd like to say thanks for this poignant article that speaks to us in many ways.
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Each of your essays are a treasure. Thank you.
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Here in a leafy ex-burb of Massachusetts, Autumn has arrived, We had temps in the low 40's. There were fewer birds. I do have a small lawn that was covered in falling leaves. Took the mower to them, and left the debris for next spring's crop. The chipmunks, which were rare are back, digging holes all over the yard. Like you, i welcome the fall after a very hot summer. The three things we do in my family is protect protect protect -- It seems as futile as it is rewarding thank you
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Thanks for this. Not only is it a reminder of the daily re-enactment and renewal of the ancient rhythms of life that we are embedded inside of if we care to watch them; it reminds us of the satisfactions that come with our being witnesses to the seasons and cycles of nature.
My experience is that embracing this role deepens my purpose as an individual and provides me an opportunity to make sure that there is space in the present for such activities to continue.
It's a delightful and meaningful feeling to realize that my awareness helps make the invisible visible, thereby assisting the more-than-human world to thrive, change and survive--which is central to my own health and ability to adapt to whatever comes next.
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Two days ago, after thinking the hummers had left on their long journey, given I hadn’t seen any sipping at the flowers in the bed or the feeders, one came in. I watched as she (or a juvenile male) worked both for quite awhile. I wished it Godspeed. The feeders are still outside, though this week I’ll bring them in and clean them, already anticipating their arrival next spring.
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Ms. Renkle's columns are not to be missed. She is a worthy successor to Hal Borland, who wrote those wonderful outdoor Sunday op-eds back in the '60s and '70s. I still read from the six or seven of his books, which I discovered one day sitting in one place on the shelves of a used book store in the NC mountains. If Ms. Renkle ever publishes collections of her contributions, I hope I will still be around to read them and enjoy them over again. As a native Tennesseean and Vanderbilt graduate, I feel especially close to her reflections in Nashville and admire her writing.
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I wish that I could have sent Margaret some of the rain the Chicago area received in September. Many communities had problems with flooding. It seems only to be expected when an overnight rainfall is in the 3 to 5 inch range.
The people who deny that climate change is happening are still affected by it although they do not seem to realize that their disbelief does not make them immune to it.
Thank you NYT for the gift of Margaret's columns on Mondays.
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Ms Renkl: You went to a hardware store? Where is it? It must be the last hardware store in America. I cannot remember the last time I was able to go into a neighborhood hardware store. The big box stores on the highways have made local hardware stores as extinct as the passenger pigeon.
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@David We have Dual Supply, in downtown Hillsborough, for now. Who knows how long it will survive?
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@David When I own a home in Holt, Michigan the local Ace Hardware had a rule. If I came in three times in one day trying to solve a problem, someone did a house call.They were able to order anything and I could purchase one screw and one bolt if I needed it. Example: I need knobs for a dresses whose drawers are one inch thick. The box store knobs are for thinner kitchen cabinets. I have heard there is a Ace in Frederick, MD and even one in Bethesda. I will hunt for one.
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I always put my feeders out a week before the anticipated arrival of the hummingbirds. I want them to come and stay. I also leave my feeders out for a week after my hummingbirds leave for those that are on their way South. Living in Pennsylvania does mean a shorter season with these amazing creatures than those in Southern states. They are magical and I cannot imagine summers without them. Thank you for this article.
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Thank you Margaret for your splendid and soothing perspectives. They provide a much needed respite from the harsh realities of man's machinations. It is always a joy to see your articles appear in the Times.
We would all be better off if more paid attention to the natural world and the beauty and peace it affords us.
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@BMAR: One is sad you are soothed. Soothing can result from a well-tempered funeral. The earth is ringing a knell. While glad you are soothed, one cannot quite understand the foundation. The northern hemisphere alone has lost ghastly millions of birds. Lest one misunderstand, bird experts speak of effects on entire populations, not a few birds migrating on another block. Better than seeing a glass as half full or half empty is seeing the glass as filling or emptying because emergency not-pretty-change is going on. Having a correct view is not a reasonable goal so I do not criticize yours. Doing the necessary will however require a correct view. Writers fear to tell the truth that humans are killing their place on earth. Because humans rely on life systems, humans’ dying systems will extinguish humans and higher mammals first, leaving the planet to creatures like insects, reptiles, creatures which can neither destroy the climate environment nor enjoy the grandeur we enjoyed. It is magical thinking that after humans extinguish themselves, optimists can come back and find it did not happen. There will be no history to tell because we are accelerating our declining mortality.
We've seen the last of the hummers here in north Alabama too. Their departure is always sad as we enjoy the rough-and-tumble battles as they fight over our feeders. I commented to my wife once that the hummers remind me of our three grandsons playing in our backyard. The grandsons don't 'battle' but their energy is very much like that of the hummingbirds. The sheer joy of play on the part of the boys is almost like watching the effortless flight of our hummingbirds.
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I remember, as a little girl in Stuttgart, Arkansas, lying on my back in our front yard in the fall and watching flocks of migratory birds head south. We were close to large rivers headed for the Mississippi, so there were so many birds that the sky seemed black. Truly an awesome sight, and even then I knew I was seeing something much larger than than my life.
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Support Wildlife Conservation.
So much is at stake.
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It is unbearably sad what we are doing to nature. I used to veer between anger and sadness, but now it is mostly sadness. It appears most people simply do not care (or, worse) do not even notice that nature is disappearing.
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@Mark Crozier
I've noticed.
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Many who don’t care about what we’re doing to nature focus on their screens, gaming, and social media instead of what’s around them, human, animal, and natural.
Dickens had the correct take on this in “A Tale of Two Cities”: “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”
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@Mark Crozier
I feel sadness and despair too, but Greta and Extinction Rebellion and others like them give me hope - they're like weeds popping up in a desert - beautiful, resilient, bright and spiteful. A single drop of water seems to sustain them for an eternity. When I add a drop of effort to theirs, I feel less sad. Try it.
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Beautiful piece. Thank you.
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I loved reading this. We saw our last hummingbird around a week ago here in NJ. Seeing them zoom around the garden to visit bee balm and lobelia plants is a highlight of our summer.
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Thank you so much for this. Each April I wait for the hummingbirds to return. Often, they surprise me by hovering outside my office window, saying that they have arrived- time to fill the feeders. I have three feeders to also make up for many flowers that do not bloom each year anymore. The hummingbirds are a comfort throughout the spring and summer and in August the hummingbird wars are loud and hectic. Quite a show. By September 15 or sometimes a few days later, they are gone. The silence is most notable.
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@Dominique I can remember when my father, an Air Force fighter pilot, would watch the violent hummingbird wars. He was in awe of them, saying they were the best fighter pilots in the world.
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Dear Margaret, Thanks for writing about your backyard. I love my yard too. I have found comfort there for 33 years. It is plunked down right in the middle of this old New England mill town. A remnant of one of the last farms to leave the neighborhood as the city housing spread up from the river. The lot is deep and we don’t tend it much, so it is pretty wild. My neighbors beside and behind have the same lazy attitude towards lawns. Together ours create a wooded seclusion. Having this accessible natural space has helped sustain my 41 year marriage. At the worst of times, about to be done with my vows, I couldn’t imagine giving up my yard. So here we are, still amazed at the trees blowing in the fall brightness and the grass alive with moving shadows.
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@Barbara Fox
My heart both broke and sang as I read your post. I am myself newly transplanted from that same NE town to Charleston, SC. My Golden Retriever and I are longing not only for the former glorious garden but for the cool, crisp Autumn air and beauty of the Sugar Maples.
...Not to mention NH’s two Democratic Senators
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@Barbara Fox
I too have step-by-step endeavored over decades to make a sheltered and nourishing sanctuary for birds (and insects, and small mammals) in our back garden, 40 mikes north of San Francisco. As with you, this has sustained not only winged-creatures and four-legged furry friends over the years, but also me to the depths of my heart and soul, in times of wretched anguish — personal, political, climatic catastrophe — and in flights of joy.
Last week the sweet-singing white-crowned sparrows returned for the winter, and this week my sooty fox sparrow companion of the early morns. I now migrate in my own being from morning to mourning. And when the winged ones begin to filter and flutter down following first light, back to morning . . .
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@Barbara Fox: I accidentally fell into wild gardening decades ago and have practiced it, or left nature practice it which nature does in flashes, on several properties. The New York Times has a series about it which describe it satisfactorily. Wild gardening is wonderful, easy and soul-satisfying. You are blessed, lucky and know.
1
Thank you for this. My mind travels back to my mother, dead these last twenty-two years, who loved watching birds in her backyard and who taught me to love them too.
"One day they will leave and be gone for good. But no matter how long I stand at the window and watch, I will never know which time will be the very last." I feel you are speaking about this season's hummingbird migration. And you may be speaking about a future where we may never again see hummingbirds because of this climate crisis. My heart aches at what we are losing. I'm glad my mother is not alive to see what I see and to know what I know.
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Thank you for another column rich with information and emotion linked to nature. They’re a welcome perch among all the depressing articles resulting from the administrations destructive actions.
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This piece crystallizes the existential fear now so prevalent is so many that should be enjoying the fruits of civilization, but now dwell in regret of its consequences. It is the paradox of human society. So-called modern humanity have traded the fears of barbarism, and its consequent threats of nearly ubiquitous warfare, for the fears of global environmental collapse enabled by so-called civilization. Capitalist consumerism raises everyone's standard of living, setting the stage for endless population growth, which only replaces security and economic anxiety with environmental anxiety and guilt. Perhaps, anxiety is the default and nothing we do will ever change this. The harder humans try to change their circumstances for the better the worse the mess seems to get for reasons unforeseen. Human reason gets a lot more credit that it deserves and will be hard pressed to answer for these civilized enthusiasms.
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Capitalist consumerism actually decreases birth rates. To simplify it, the point where parents decide to buy a washing machine is a better choice for our current family size
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@Kevin Shea
It's true birthrates decline as GDP increases, but economic and environmental footprint increases even more per capita, so environmental stress continues to escalate despite that decrease in family size. The growth paradigm of economic consumerism is unsustainable, people come to know it, and anxiety increases despite higher standard of living. Rat race?
3
My hummingbird feeder used to be full of hummingbirds even a few years ago in Upstate New York. This summer, only 2 or 3 came. Something very disturbing is going on.
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@JTS I moved into an apartment in a complex with many trees, shrubs and some flowering plants. I put up a bird feeder and have little action. I am going to look for a different brand of black sunflower seeds but this is the only place I have lived where this has happened. My hummingbird feeder was busy with two females raising two broods and the crazy males fighting each other. I love it when the babies visit the feeder for the first time each year.
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In the midst of this crazy world, who would think a tiny hummingbird can take us back to what really counts some days? Most days, actually.
Thanks for the reminder. Yes, they are lovely. It’s us that just needs to pay attention and lose ourselves gazing at them.
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October light is like March light, bold and brilliant and deep, deep blue, when the skies are clear. In October, it is a harbinger of the tired, milky blue washed out skies of December and January; in March it is relief from them.
By October, in NY, many birds have already disappeared from my yard, as the only flowers left are a few mums. I can't keep asters alive (yeah, they're a weed - go figure) and even the chamomile daisies are end of term.
It is fall, the birds are quieter - the winter flocks will be here soon - and the deer have taken on their dull gray coats, lost the cinnamon that makes them so pretty. Even the groundhog is duller, grayer. And the squirrels are planing hickories everywhere.
The light and the azure are our gift before winter, a call to action to get out and look at the turning leaves; hike along a river of lake and get the full effect of the burst of color, before November carpet bombs you with gray that will last through February.
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We saw our last hummingbird here in upstate NY about 2 weeks ago. Almost time to put out the birdfeeders and enjoy our fall & winter crowd. Thank you
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Thank you for such an uplifting column for the change of seasons!
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@JFT1948
Even though I follow climate news, your wonderful column shocked me regarding the type of fall weather you are experiencing. I love your appreciation of the differing seasonal lighting and its cue to the birds. The question arising for me after reading this is; for migratory animals that are light cued, will the change in climate at some point override the light cue and begin to affect their migratory pattern? Does anyone know how this works?
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