HUMMINGBIRDS IN A FEEDING FRENZY
By Malcolm Callister
Our neighbors at the LaPenita RV Park, on Mexico’s Pacific coast where Karol and Jack of Port Perry, Ontario, Canada. I was introduced to, Karol and told of her Hummingbirds during a park hosted Taco and Margarita night. Karol told me, “we feed about thirty Hummingbirds at a time behind our 5th Wheel every morning at about 6:30 a.m. It is a feeding frenzy. The birds feed side by side no fighting, seeming to understand that if they wait their turn there is enough food for all.”
I was invited by Karol for coffee the next morning to experience the feeding frenzy.
THE VIEW OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN
The bird feeders are on the patio at the rear of Karol and Jack’s 5th Wheel. As you step onto the patio you freeze, held motionless, spellbound by the sight of the Pacific Ocean. The Jaltemba Bay, crescent moon shaped tropical beach, with its tall palms swaying in the breeze.
It is 6:30 a.m. The sun is rising over the mountains behind you. The sun’s clear early morning tropical sunlight reflects off the white wave caps and surf. The Pacific waves roar and crash onto the golden sand beach.
You stand for a minute breathing in, tasting, smelling the salt air. Hearing the pounding surf. The panoramic view of the blue ocean stretching to the horizon. A small fishing boat, a white dot in the distance. It is only then that you become aware of the buzzing. The Humming birds are returning. Your arrival disturbed them. But now, they are back.
THEIR WINGS, JUST A BLUR
The sound appears continuous, the action non-stop. Their wings just a blur to the human eye. You feel the breeze from their wings on your face. They stop, appearing to hang in the air, tails flared, waiting their turn on the feeders. When feeder space becomes available, they dive in at an incredible speed. You can see their long tongues reaching out for syrup. They are unbelievable acrobats.
The other birds are all about you, watching, waiting their turn. There are about thirty of these small colorful birds at any one time moving at speed past your head, arriving and leaving the feeders. Several different species clearly identifiable with their own unique markings.
SUDDENLY THE FEEDING FRENZY IS OVER
Suddenly it is Over. The end of the feeding frenzy is marked by the arrival of bigger birds. The big orange and black Orio’s want their turn at the feeders, and they don’t share.
Jack then told me, “the humming birds blend back into the surrounding forest coming back to the feeder in smaller numbers during the day. But it will be 6:30 a.m. tomorrow before we see a display like the one you have just witnessed.”
TO SEE THE HUMMINGBIRDS AT LAPENITA RV PARK
Contact Karol and Jack via LaPenita RV Park Mexico www.lapenitarvpark.com
