It’s late July and the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds have begun to load-up on nectar to, literally, fatten themselves up in preparation for their fall migration to lands as far away as northern Panama.  It is hard to image something the size of a peanut making such a long journey, but they do.   And it gets better.  Most hummingbirds who return in the spring will appear at the same feeders they left behind the previous fall.   (Really?  I can’t find my way to the gas station without GPS!)

It’s no surprise, then, that a female hummingbird was quite distressed when a lizard invaded HER feeder during the fattening-up month of August last year.   The lizard’s acrobatics are actually quite impressive.  The poor little hummingbird tried her best to scare him off, but she got about as much traction with her fear tactics as does the White-Breasted Nuthatch.  None.

 

The good news is, the lizard didn’t eat much and Ms. Hummingbird regained ownership of her feeder.  She was quite pleasingly-plump when she departed for a warmer climate in late September.