Awaiting Napolean's return

The grass is greening, the azaleas are blooming, and the trees are leafing. The goldfinches have on their spring attire, the bluebirds are nesting, and, thank goodness, the time has changed. All that is left to prove to me that spring is really here is the return of the hummingbirds.

I put out my feeders yesterday, filled with a 1:4 sugar:water mixture. They ate it up last fall on their way south. Some days we had six hummers fighting for sipping space - all ruby-throats. Most entertaining was one I dubbed Napolean - the smallest, and meanest, of the crew. My feeders came without perches, so the hummers have to hover to dine; I fashioned a perch from a piece of galvanized wire just to see if they would use it. Napolean claimed it as his command post. He would sit for minutes at a time, without drinking, just to chase away patrons of either feeder. He was quite the little dictator.

We thought we lost him once. The pull cord on my garage door is nylon with a red plastic knob for a handle. He flew into the garage thinking the knob was a flower and knocked himself silly trying to get back outside again. Dora was hysterical, thinking he was dead. I took him around back and held him up to the porch screen. He grabbed on for dear life and spent the night sleeping it off. Next morning, he was back at his post on the perch, menacing every hummer in that dared come close.

It was reported that Hurricane Ivan affected the southerly migration of the ruby-throated hummingbirds last fall. I sure hope not. I'm looking for their return any day. Please let me know if you see one in the Birmingham area. Tell the Little General his nectar is on the house.