I flew back from Moss Mountain Farm this evening, pulled into the garage and began unloading the car. I was exhausted from being up since 3 AM, but happy to be home and see spring in full bloom at Poison Ivy Acres. As I began taking things into the house I saw that there was a hummingbird that had flown into the garage. I didn’t know if it had come in when I opened the garage door or if it had been inside the garage since yesterday, but it was clearly frantic. It kept crashing against the ceiling, trying to get out.
I opened both garage doors and tried gently herding it with a broom. This just made it more frantic so I stopped that approach. I talked to it, but the bird wasn’t listening. I visualized that tiny hummer dropping down one foot and zipping out the door. No dice. Knowing that they often come to a sprinkler for water, I set one outside the open garage hoping that the sound and smell of the water would lure it out. Nada.
I talked with Dan about it and he looked up some advice online. Put a vase of flowers that the birds are foraging on near the doorway, was one piece of information that he found. I was skeptical, because it seemed to me that the bird wasn’t looking around, it was only focused up. But I agreed to give it a try and put a vase of flowers near the open garage door and left, not wanting my presence to make the poor bird any more frantic than it already was.
About half an hour later I peeked into the garage and it was a May miracle! The bird was feeding on the bleeding heart only one foot from the open garage door! I walked slowly up to it and tried to take it’s picture so that I could show Dan that it had worked. The bird heard the click of my camera and took off, out the door and into the wet perennial foliage. I’m assuming that it took a much needed drink but I didn’t stop to watch…I was closing the garage doors quickly so that it couldn’t come back in!
(More about Moss Mountain soon.)
I put the vase of flowers up near the top of the garage door since I knew the bird was focusing attention up there. Although hummingbirds do feed on tulips, I put the red one there just as a large flag that I hoped would get the bird’s attention. The fringed bleeding heart that I included is a hummingbird favorite in the garden, and sure enough, that’s what the bird was feeding on before it flew out the door. Success! And note to self: don’t leave the garage doors open for very long in the future.
