The Last Hummingbirds Of Summer

You can really tell around here that Fall is nigh...the colors of the trees are starting to peer out from under the green, the air is cool and crisp, and now and then you'll see vast flocks of birds flying overhead, starting their journey south. Our barn swallows are long gone, alas, off to Argentina and presumably Argentinian barns. For a while, I thought all the hummingbirds had split as well...the ones at the nectaries were getting really fat, like flying ping-pong balls, and then they disappeared. Those little guys are really tough, and feisty too...they fight each other for territory, and the nectaries are prime real estate. All Summer you'd see little dogfights as hummingbirds would slam into each other in these tiny turf wars.

These guys are too fierce and independent to migrate in flocks (but just imagine if they did...a cloud of buzzing tiny birds), they go individually on an insane migration, first down to Louisiana, and pretty much non-stop from here in Michigan. That's why they feed so much before leaving...they double their body weight for the trip. Then, they feed up again down south before the final leg of the journey, ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO!!! That's like 500 miles over open water. Crazy. Then in the Spring they do it all again in reverse.

So I thought my hummingbird watching was over for the season. But just as I was getting ready to pack the feeders up, a new, slimmer bunch of birds started to show up. I've seen this here and down by my folks place too this year...apparently these are the younger, smaller hummers that were getting pushed away from the nectaries earlier. Now they're getting a chance to feed up, hopefully they can get ready before the cold weather hits. They seem to be making up for lost time!

I was out on my upstairs back porch, making a phone call to Cyn, leaning up by the bird feeders, when I heard a buzzing right by my ear...I turned and there was a tiny female ruby-throated hummer, totally ignoring me and taking full advantage of the nectar there, about 2 feet from my head. She and I hung out for quite a while together, and I got a chance to really observe her feeding from a vantage point I'd never had before. Amazing!! Hope that little one makes it safe across the Gulf to sunny Mexico, and back here again next year...

Family, Festivals & Hummingbird Wars

Just in from coffee on my front porch...here in the boonies we get a lot of wildlife, and one of the coolest things happening this week is the huge amount of hummingbirds we get coming to our nectary feeders! For those of you who might not know, hummingbirds migrate all by their little selves (they're too feisty to hang in flocks, but imagine if they did! Bzzz), and from here in Michigan they go pretty much non-stop to Lousianna, where they take a break to refuel on the local flowers. Then they fly again non-stop ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO. That's like 500 miles across open water! Crazy. So they've gotta feed up here, and they often double their weight, and wind up looking like little feathered tennis balls before they go. As you might imagine, our feeders are very popular, and the Hummingbird Nectary Wars Of 2008 are in full swing. These tiny guys are very territorial and really have some amazing dogfights over the feeders. We've added new feeders and are gonna get more, probably today. It's very cool to watch them as closely as we do, they're beautiful and fascinating.

Friday we had our first gig with The Infinitones, out at the Crossroads Festival in Ypsilanti. As is the fate of all new bands, we opened for two other bands, the White Ravens and Muruga's Free Funk band. And also as with all opening acts, we followed the standard etiquette: Headliner sets up first (and does the first sound check), then next act sets up in front of them, and so on. That way the equipment can be hauled off in layers and the time between acts is lessened. Thing was, Muruga's band had 9 people in it!! With lots of equipment for each player...and a separate drum platform for the tabla player...and then the White Ravens had their keyboards up...so we were pretty cramped up there! Very little foot room. I didn't really have enough space to turn around to cue Dan the drummer much, although I didn't really need to...he's always on top of that. We played pretty well all in all, and had fun too. The Ravens sounded great and Muruga and his band are all stellar players, so I think a splendid time was had by all, really. I used my Cort Matt Murphy Signature guitar, the Fender Deluxe Reissue and the Vox Tonelab LE, and I was pretty happy with the tones. That Tonelab solves a lot of problems for me since it's so easy to program, so small (on a stage like that, very handy!) and sounds so warm and good. I still love my old analog pedals, but for now this is working really well.

Bad news on my family health front. My aunt seems to have had a re-emergence of her lymphoma. Of course my Mom is very upset indeed, as am I. I've been trying help as much as I can with my Dad's condition (he has Parkingson's Disease and is pretty shaky sometimes), but it seems everybody in their age group is having some real challenges. My aunt didn't make it out to the family reunion this year, and I'm thinking of trying to talk my Mom into going out to Montana to visit her, while I wrangle my Pa. That should be hilarious. As I've said before, this growing old is not for sissies! I know this is probably affecting my mental health too, but at this point I don't have time for that so I'll just soldier on and put out what fires I can. Later if things get better I can schedule a nice mental breakdown, and a comfortable rest in a nice white room with the men in the nice white coats. Ahh...

At some point in this next week I'm resolved to march into my studio and start recording again. I told Steve from the Buzzrats that I'd be working on bass for his new album, and it's time to go and see what I can do. Looks like about 16 songs! Ah, that Steve, ever the prolific songwriter. Once I get started it'll be fun...maybe I'll sneak some Electric Sitar on a few tracks as well. Hehheheh...