Excitement is in the air. Hummingbirds are back in Washington, soon to arrive at a feeder near you.
While backyard birders can be almost tongue-tied with superlatives about their dashing visitors and the pleasure received, they also can educate their children and grandchildren.
A good
way to share the hummer story is through Craig and Joy Johnson’s excellent children’s book, “The Amazing Hummingbird Story of Red Rufous.”
The story began with a photographic chronicle of a hummingbird’s nest in Freeland in 2009.
The Johnsons, experienced birders, were very careful to avoid spooking Mom away from her eggs and later, offspring. Craig took a photograph each day for about a month, but each time waited until the female had flown off in search of food.
“We stayed way back, she’d leave, and I’d run real quick to the nest,” he said.
Then the hummers hatched, and Mom removed all the eggshells from the nest on the first day.
“I could not find one piece of eggshell. And as they grew, she removed all the fecal matter and stuck it to the side of the nest,” he said.
“It was amazing how quickly they developed and grew,” said Joy, who with her husband makes presentations on birds for schools and nature-related groups.
In addition to a charming story, the book also educates about a hummingbird’s birth, growth and incredible migratory trek to southern Mexico for the winter.
“We wanted to educate people in a fun way, especially geared for children,” Joy said.
Children, yes, but a 92-year-old woman bought a copy for herself because she just loved hummers, Joy said.
Craig did the illustrations, drawing from an array of photographs. The book came out last fall.
“I do a lot of watercolors of birds,” said Craig, an artist and illustrator. “I tried to capture some of the character of them, make it more representational and bring them to the book. The story lent itself to paintings.”
The Whidbey Island residents also wrote and photographed the interesting and nicely done “Our Puget Sound Birds & Habitat” in 2007, which has sold out. The Web site (www.pugetsoundbackyardbirds.com) is worth checking out for photographs, watercolors and avian information.
Unfortunately, Craig is dealing with a disability that keeps him close to home, so his days roaming the island and photographing birds probably are over.
“But we have a back yard packed with birds,” Craig said.
The book project had an added benefit for the Johnsons.
“We’re both very meditative people and to watch and study them brings the big picture of life into perspective. We noticed the interconnections between birds and people and what draws them together,” Joy said.
Chilly hummers: Yet another cold snap has passed. Most people took their hummingbird feeders inside at night as an anti-freezing measure, although it was cold enough to freeze the sugar water during the day.
Pat Riffe conquered that problem during the previous chill by wrapping her feeder in little Christmas lights.
“It works beautifully even in 20-degree weather. Odd how those little lights … have a small amount of heat generated.
“I wrap them around the ‘blossoms,’ too, so they are not frozen, either. Our little hummers are very curious about the lights as well, which is very cute, too. Thanks for the great suggestion!”
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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