[TN-Bird] Rufous Hummingbird Day 94

I put the feeder out early this morning and Willie came at 5:57 a.m. for
the check-in sip and then returned for two more quick drinks within five
minutes.  We keep putting the food out earlier and he keeps coming
earlier.  Now I'm wondering who is training who - have we trained Willie
to come earlier because the food is there or has Willie's willingness to
come earlier trained us?  Maybe we've become the Pavlov's dog of a
rufous hummer as the thought of seeing Willie causes us to awake
earlier, jump out of bed and get dressed and hurry to hang up the
feeder.  He is certainly beautiful in the moonlight of this crisp clear
morning even with his multicolored molting throat and spattered green
head and back.  Being excited about seeing him when the molting is
complete and he has his new colors makes us even more eager to see him
each morning and so the cycle of hummingbird-induced sleep deprivation
continues.  It's amazing that love, even directed toward a few ounces of
feathers and bones,  has such power to change our behavior and cause us
to see sacrifice as enjoyment.      

Tommy & Virginia Curtis
Smithville, TN
DeKalb County

=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------- 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    ========================================================

Other related posts: