Good things come to those who wait

For years I tried to attract hummingbirds to our yard, but never could. Eventually I stopped trying, but I still kept the feeder in the secret hope that one day I’d figure out the trick to attracting them.

A few weeks after I put up my regular bird feeder last year, I thought that I saw a hummingbird zoom by! I quickly dug out the hummingbird feeder, filled it with the sugar water, and waited. Nothing. After a few days, I assumed that I had been mistaken, took it down again, and chucked it in the closet.

I didn’t even think about putting it up this year. Then, one morning at the end of August, a friend sent me a message asking how my hummingbird feeder was doing. I reluctantly responded that I only had a regular bird feeder since I had never been able to attract hummingbirds to our yard. That evening, a hummingbird flew up to our dining room window and then zoomed off. There was no mistaking it this time! I quickly dug the feeder out of the closet again, filled it up, and hung it on a pole near our kitchen window. And I waited. Nothing. An hour and a half later, I was chatting with my husband in our kitchen when out of the corner of my eye I spotted some movement. It was a hummingbird at our feeder! It darted back and forth all evening, then returned the next day with a friend.

So began my obsession with watching our hummingbirds. And, my newest bead idea.

As soon as I saw the first hummingbird at our feeder I started looking for a bead to represent them. None were quite right. I thought of making a bead, but the idea of the pointy beak seemed a bit scary without having a flower or something for it to drink from so that I didn’t accidentally stab myself.

I’ll acknowledge the obvious here: it still has a somewhat pointy beak. And nothing to prevent accidental impalements.

 

My original plan was to angle the head down more so that the beak curved into the body, but it didn’t look natural. For my second attempt, I tried to angle it off to the side so that at least it would be over whatever glass bead I wore beside it. That also didn’t pan out. So, here I am, with a pointy weapon on my wrist. But I love it.

I put together a quick combination with the red armadillo since hummingbirds are attracted by the colour red. Keeping with the spirit of my regular bird feeder bracelet, which has the Squirrel bead to represent their antics at that feeder, I added a bead to represent one of the uninvited diners at the hummingbird feeder: the bees. If I had an ant bead, that would also be appropriate since I had to put double-sided tape on the pole to keep the ants out of the feeder. My next challenge will be finding a glass bead to represent the rich emerald green colour of the hummingbirds.

The hummingbirds have migrated for the year, but, I still have this little one to keep me going until they return next year. And they will return.

I hope.

4 Comments

  1. Oooh I love hummingbirds. Your bead is adorable. My grandparents in law had a cabin in the woods and the hummingbirds would come by pecking the windows when they went up there, expecting to be fed. :)

    1. Thanks :)

      That is funny that they would peck the windows! I had one fly right up to the window when I was watching them, but most of the time they got spooked if we got too close. It is the first year that I’ve had them, so I guess it might take a while before they trust us. I may even sneak in a second feeder next year ;)

  2. wow….i hope they are still visiting you. BTW, i have become a fan of your beads.If we stayed in the same place, I would have grabbed your creations from time to time :)

    1. I really hope that they come back this year! We’ve had a late start to spring, so I haven’t put the feeder out again yet, but I am itching to! Right now the water in our bird bath still freezes overnight, but I think later this week the temperatures will start staying above zero at night and I can put the hummingbird feeder out without worrying about it freezing. And then I just have to wait for them to show up again. :)

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