I’m blessed because my backyard has an incredible Mimosa Tree. If you have never seen one in full bloom or smelled the lovely, sweet fragrance of the Mimosa on a summer evening then you have really missed out on a miracle of nature.
The tree is about 20 feet tall and I imagine it’s been there for many years because its branches spread out and cover about a third of the yard. It has a bent and graceful trunk and it is heavy with pink and gold blossoms from early spring to late fall. Like a lithe ballerina it sways with the breeze and even the strongest wind can’t snap it’s resilient branches.
But what makes this tree really special is that it is home to about twenty hummingbirds. They feed and sing and hover from branch to branch, sipping at the sweet nectar the tree offers them. They play and perch and sometimes fight.
On the back porch, we have a hummingbird feeder, just a few feet from the Mimosa and when they tire of the tree, they swoop in for a tall drink of hummingbird kool aid.
They have become quite bold and will buzz and hover around the porch as they tease the viewer (me) into thinking maybe I can get a decent shot. And so I whip out my trusty digital camera in the hopes of getting that very thing.
But no matter what I do, I can never quite get the perfect picture. Usually, it’s in sillouette because the light is behind them and they buzz and hover so fast that you barely have a chance to raise the camera before they are gone.
But sometimes if you are very lucky, you get the chance to catch them standing still.
Still, I long to get the little dude up close and personal and I’ve yet to manage that. No matter though, because my joy is in sitting on the back porch and watching them zip to and fro, doing their own special summer dance of the nectar. To hear their little chirps signaling each other whose turn it is to drink and warning of the big human waving the camera. And laughing at me as I wait patiently for them to appear – all for the chance of catching them in my sights and snapping the picture before they are off again for the safety of the Mimosa.
Digital camera $195, glass of iced tea $1.50, can of bug spray $3.95, catching the humming bird in flight – priceless.
WC
Anita Rodgers Mystery Writer 
Hummingbirds are very interesting birds.
We have a few in the garden but nowhere near the number in your Mimosa tree.
I think the picture may have come out better had you used a flash. It doesn’t look like you did.
Mimosa tree . . . and here I am thinking of champagne and OJ in crystal growing on trees :0)
~m
You may be right about the flash – maybe I’ll try that.
WC
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Digital camera $195, glass of iced tea $1.50, can of bug spray $3.95, catching the humming bird in flight – priceless.
Great ending. This sounds wonderful. I’ll be there around dusk for a glass of that tea.
k
Yep, we got the iced tea, the duhmaters and I think I can scare up some steaks too. 😉
WC
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I’m about the world’s worst photographer. Hence:
Camera, so so, can of beer … blah … bug spray … yep … catching the hummingbird in flight – impossible.
Poor Anthony, maybe practice would help?
WC
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Have you ever had one of those buggers dive bomb your head? I like hummingbirds, they’re neat to watch, but the ones at my Mamaw’s house will get just inches from your head, kinda like they’re attacking/playing.
Well maybe you’re so sweet they are mistaking you for nectar. 😉
WC
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how cool! keep snapping away, you’ll get your shot!
I think I need a better camera, I’m going to get a better camera…somehow.
WC
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I’m with Red here. I’ve had hummingbirds come after me and I have a real fear of them. Anywhere there are hummingbirds they are out to get me.
It’s the same with birds, butterflies, ladybugs and just about any flying thing.
The only ones that don’t bother with me are bats thankfully.
~PLU~
Hey Roobs,
I’m just the opposite. I love the hummingbirds and they’ve never been anything but sweet and cute to me. But bats… oh no! I had a bat incident when I was a kid and I am terrified of them.
WC
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Hey, sorry for double posting here but I just noticed that I’m supposed to nag you about your search for an agent……..
How’s that going??
Hey Roobs,
Oy, the pain. 21 rejections so far. Doesn’t anybody want me? 😉
WC
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You know, having the metabolism of a hummingbird would be a good thing. They are pretty much eating pure sugar to keep up with the number of beats of their wings! I’ve only seen hummingbirds at my f-i-l’s house in El Paso. I was so excited when I saw my first one. There is something magical about them.
They are amazing creatures. And I think they are kind of magical too. What joy that I have a whole tree full of them.
WC
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Hummingbirds are cool and all but they aren’t worth shit for hunting. They are so damned small and have next to no good meat.
Yeah, they’re kind of like crawdads, you need a whole pot full to make it worth your while. 😉
WC
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You are very blessed to have the tree and hummingbirds! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for coming by.
WC
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Gorgeous! My mom is a bird fanatic. She’s known as “The bird lady” in her neighborhood because she has so many birdfeeders! She adores them and is constantly pointing them out when we are over. The one pic of him sitting still is awesome!
Hey Bella,
I think with the garden this year I have become such a nature lady. I wish I could get the hummingbirds to come to me. That would be amazing. I also have a pet butterfly who lives in my garden and I call her beauty. When I come out to the yard, she comes to me and fly all around me, as if to say, hi. It’s great.
WC
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Nice pictures, WC. Must be a relaxing/distracting sight to write to. I love birds… you haven’t lived unless you’ve been dive-bombed by a cockatoo. 😉
I’ve got into a bad habit of leaving the flash on whenever I take a picture… I had some beautiful ones of a sunset the other day… I rescued one in Photoshop, but the rest just weren’t the same.
Thanks, CJ.
It is wonderfully relaxing and distracting. As to the camera and and the flashes – with the digital cameras now you have to remember codes and such to turn things on and off – used to be so much easier to flip a little button on the normal cameras.
I’m so behind the times. 😉
WC
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I love hummingbirds too! I have a beautiful hummingbird tattoo on my left ankle! 🙂 yup Dennis has a friend who lives in what she calls the heart of hummingbird country Richfield Springs, NY. Truly she had so many hummingbirds Annie the kids and I were in awe. She opens the door to her beautiful log cabin and the beauties fly in. I said how do you get them out Rose? she said she can just pick them up and put them back outside. I didn’t think you could pick them up they are so fast and small too. Anyway they do have alot and all those acres of land it’s so beautiful, I was kind of jealous. They have 4 dogs a frog pond, 1 bird Joey who talks to a mirror the kids had the time of their lives. Hope you are well
Kath
Hey Kath!
Wow, I would love it if my humming birds came into the house and played with us. That would fantastic. How’s tricks?
WC
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oops right ankle jeez Kath you don’t know your left from your right yet? lol 😉
Nope, I can’t – but I’m working on it. 😉
WC
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