We hunkered down for hurricane Ike.  Before the sun went down the hummingbirds at my mother's house ate until the sun went down.  Then the hurricane came through during the night.  The next morning there was still wind, rain, new destruction... and hummingbirds.  How do they handle hurricanes I wonder.

Anyway, after the winds died down during the day, my mother was walking in the yard with the dogs when she heard a chirp & saw some red flashing at her feet.  It was a hummingbird in the grass.  Apparently he had been wounded or something.  She picked him up & we put him in a potted plant up high so no other animals could get to him.  The next morning he was gone & there was no trace of him.  Then we noticed another hummer that didn't seem to be able to find the openings on the feeders.  She didn't seem to know how to eat.  I was pretty worried about her, because soon they will take off across the Gulf of Mexico.  But the next day we found a female dead near the feeders, & didn't see the one having problems anymore.  My mother put her in a tree so the dogs wouldn't eat her.

We all hunkered down & rode out the storm together, us & those hummingbirds.  Now I feel a special connection to these tiny little birds that will most likely stay in my heart forever.  I feel sad because their populations at the feeders at both houses (mine & my mothers) are dwindling.  They are beginning to leave & I'm sure most will be gone in a few weeks.  I will miss them.  But I will clean my feeders & keep them ready for next year... and hope that there will be no hurricanes.