Blog archive
June 2023
Communications Project with Cal State LA
06/02/2023
Creative Aging
06/01/2023
May 2023
One Villager's Story
05/31/2023
Pasadena Area Literary Arts Center
05/31/2023
Pasadena Village Responds to Rainbow Flag Burning at Pasadena Buddhist Temple
05/31/2023
Plan Ahead - And Be Prepared
05/31/2023
Tuesday, May 23 Pasadena Celebrated Older Americans
05/31/2023
Rumor of Humor #15
05/28/2023
Reparations, Social Justice Activity
05/24/2023
Rumor of Humor #14
05/19/2023
Rumor of Humor #13
05/12/2023
Issue #12
05/09/2023
Science Monday - Review of Meeting on April 10, 2023
05/09/2023
Conversations Re African American Artists Before 1920
05/08/2023
Beyond the Village – Suzi and Phil Hoge
05/01/2023
Congratulations Wayne April! Honored at UNH
05/01/2023
Table Topics
05/01/2023
Volunteer Appreciation at the Village
05/01/2023
“ACCIDENTAL HOST—The Story of Rat Lungworm Disease”
05/01/2023
April 2023
Jumbo Joy
04/24/2023
Pasadenans Recent Experience With Racism
04/23/2023
Recent Events Reflecting Racism
04/23/2023
Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschetta
04/18/2023
Photography for Social Justice
04/11/2023
Issue #8
04/07/2023
BEYOND THE VILLAGE - Catherine Deely
04/06/2023
Creative Writing in Older Adults
04/06/2023
Gifts of Love
04/06/2023
March 2023
Issue #7
03/31/2023
Issue #6
03/26/2023
Great Decisions update
03/14/2023
Dominion Lawsuit, South Africa and 710 Stub
03/08/2023
February 2023
2023 DEI Progress
02/27/2023
BEYOND THE VILLAGE - Doug Colliflower
02/26/2023
CONVERSATIONS WITH ART
02/26/2023
GREAT DECISIONS
02/26/2023
OLDER ADULTS RESOURCE FAIR
02/26/2023
The Important, Influential Books in our Lives - Revisited
02/26/2023
History, Resolution of the 710 Freeway
02/19/2023
Eminent Domain, 710 Highway
02/13/2023
Bernard Garrett, 710 Freeway
02/06/2023
Men's Times Gatherings
02/03/2023
January 2023
Pasadena's Senior Commission
01/30/2023
BEYOND THE VILLAGE - JIM HENDRICK
01/27/2023
GRATITUDE - IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!
01/27/2023
JEFF GUTSTADT - FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST
01/27/2023
Bernard Garrett, Incredible Black Entrepreneur
01/17/2023
What is the "Spirit Talk" Group About?
01/16/2023
Same Ol’ New Year, Brand New Me
01/12/2023
Review of 2022, Consideration of 2023
01/06/2023
BEYOND THE VILLAGE - PATTI LA MARR
01/03/2023
FROM THE CHAIR
01/03/2023
WALK WITH EASE
01/03/2023
"Daniel's Tree Is Her Home" by Lisa Davis
By Meanderings BLOGPosted: 06/10/2021
I try to be very quiet as I slide open the heavy door to the balcony, and then the screen door. I move very, very slowly, but when I look toward the tree, the hummingbird has flown her nest. It is the female who builds the nest, sits on her egg, and raises the young. After mating, the male takes no more responsibility. Since yesterday, Mama bird lowers her long, curved beak into the nest, feeding her baby the nectar she collects in the neighborhood.
This is the fourth year that a hummingbird has built a nest in the potted tree on my upper balcony. The tree is a cherished memory of my son Daniel, who started it during his last year of life. It has grown to about nine feet, and the nests are always in the upper branches. I sit down quietly in the chair furthest from the nest, and wait for Mama to return. When she does, she buzzes around the balcony, then zooms directly toward me, hovers inches from my face, and then flies away. Her message is pretty clear: “Get out of here; I want to feed my baby." I sit still like a statue, and out of the corner of my eye, I see her return to the nest and it looks like she is feeding her baby.
Hummingbirds are the smallest migrating birds, live about five years, and sometimes longer. They remember people, say the experts. I wonder if it is the same bird who has visited me for four years, and builds nests in Daniel’s tree. She skipped last year, the year of the pandemic. Smart bird!
Hummingbirds have very long, deeply grooved tongues to hold the nectar they collect from blooms around them. They also eat tiny insects. They love colors, and red is their favorite. They can fly not only forward, but sideways, backwards, and for a short while, even upside down.
These little creatures migrate as much as 4,000 miles, and can fly 500 miles without stopping. Their wings flutter eighty times per second and make a humming noise - hence the name. The male is the colorful, iridescent one, while the female needs to be less conspicuous as nest sitter. Like bees, they are excellent pollinators.
Does my resident hummingbird choose my balcony because it is somewhat protected? Does she remember me? Every year I take a few photos with my iPhone, but I cannot get very close. The first year, my son-in-law took some wonderful close-ups with his telephoto lens.
I have not kept track of the times of her visits, and I have not added a hummingbird feeder. I like to let nature take her course.