Hummer in the snow, or why I'm thankful for warmth and light

It's a little bit early for a Thanksgiving post, but I'm going to take the day off from my computer tomorrow, and I just uploaded the pictures I've taken of Bob, the backyard hummingbird, over the past couple of days. We don't often get much snow here in the Seattle area, and the hummingbirds who winter over will get very protective of "their" feeders when we do. Bob decided to move even closer to the feeder than usual, and didn't move from his post even when I went out on the deck to take his picture. So I got some nice pictures and I also kept a close eye on the feeder so I could warm the solution back up when it started getting slushy.

Here's Bob, perched on a nearby maple tree, about 6 feet away from his feeder. You can see the white stuff below, and earlier, the evergreen in the background was covered with a very pretty layer of accumulated snow.



And here's a closeup of Bob, showing how fluffed up his feathers are to help him keep warm.



I suspect I'll be seeing Bob again tomorrow morning at 7 am. I've been bringing the feeder in at night so the sugar solution is nice and warm in the morning. And since the weather page I use said that sunrise was 7:30, I went out at 7 on Tuesday to put the feeder back. Bob was sitting on the metal hook that the feeder is usually suspended from, and he was not a happy camper that I was late bringing him his breakfast. This morning, he was there waiting again, and let me almost touch him before he backed off a bit while I put the feeder out. I'm going to miss living so close to the wildlife. It's been one of the things I've liked the best about this house. But I'm leaving the new owner some written guidelines for the hummingbird feeder so I hope she'll get as much enjoyment from the hummers as I have.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!