Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
Posts: 1148
Registered: 8-26-2003
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Birds and Bees
Birds and Bees
This morning the southern part of Bahia de Los Angeles was calm. I could see wind churning the Gulf to the north but it was quiet here. I?m just
beginning to learn the process of integrating into our environment. That?s important to me, but I don?t have much time.
A west wind this time of year seems to bring flies. They?re a real pain and I don?t mind swatting them. Like mosquitoes that won?t leave you alone.
I don?t like killing anything but perhaps there are just too many of certain beasts to live amongst? Perhaps that includes the human race I wonder.
Are we doing more harm than good for our Earth?
Our doors and windows are always open and we have no screens to keep animals out of the house. The most common of these are bees and birds. I have a
coaster, the kind that you place under a vase on a table, and a small glass that I use to move the bees from inside to outside our house. It works
and doesn?t harm the bees if I?m careful to not damage their legs and other extremities and they fly away to the north on some unknown agenda in the
early mornings when I release them from our confines. The birds are another issue.
While occasional Orioles and Sparrows fly in and fly out, they are no problem. It?s the hummingbirds that are the focus of my attention. Apparently
hummingbirds cannot see glass. They fly directly into windows and closed glass doors.
Our neighbor and now friend made me a net of delicate webbed fabric that I attached to an extended length of Cordon rib. The extension is about ten
feet in length. The net is about ten inches in diameter. When a hummer enters our house and cannot find a way out I wait for a time until it tires
and then grab the net and try to gently remove it. But they are assertive and determined and won?t quit and accept assistance. Of course Nature
seldom provides that commodity. Maybe that one single thing is what the human race can offer up?
But I?m busy integrating. I try and catch the hummer in my small net. I can accomplish this feat occasionally, but not often.
But I?m the new guy on this block and I?m learning. Learning is good. Occasionally I have touched the tiny hummingbird with the edge of the hoop of
the net that my friend has built for our use. I?m learning that the bird, perhaps sensing the firmness of the small wire or the resistance of the
webbing, will simply stop flying and settle gently onto the closest horizontal platform, e.g., a window sill. Having done that, the hummer remains in
what I?ll call a trance for a minute or two. Perhaps it?s exhausted. Perhaps afraid. I have no clue. But if I can get to it immediately by placing
a chair just so and gently wrapping my hand around it, it remains awake and alert but will permit me to carry it to the nearest unscreened window or
door. When I relax my gentle grip the hummer stirs, focuses, and quickly flies away.
And at night, with the small lights we light for one reason or another, the bats fly in and fly out. But they are not confused by glass as they rely
not on eyesight but on radar or hearing or whatever we call it. They come and go and serve us by consuming insects that might otherwise bite and
poison us.
I think it is a perfect world if we just learn to fit within it.
All of us beasts together.
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ursidae69
Nomad
Posts: 275
Registered: 2-22-2004
Location: Youngsville, NM
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Great read.  I used to have hummers hit the glass at my place until I put a few
stickers on the glass. Wild Birds Unlimited sells many types of stickers to deter our feathered friends from hitting the glass. If one of the hummingbirds ever gets
caught in the house for long they might stress. Their metabolism is so fast that they must eat often. Carefully dipping their little beak into sugar
water often will revive them enough to take off again.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Inside Mike's upstairs living quarters, while eating dinner after it was dark, a bat flew in and back out... just as Mike said! Really cool story
Mike... and it is really special because I witnessed it! Thanks...
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zforbes
Nomad
Posts: 334
Registered: 4-11-2005
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Mood: Living the dream
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I can feel myself relaxing when I read this kind of writing. Thanks.
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Paulina
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3810
Registered: 8-31-2002
Location: BCN
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Mike,
You might want to try hanging baggies filled with water to keep the flies away. Dont know why, but it is supposed to work. Another trick we have is to
sleep with a fly swatter tucked firmly into your arm-pit so that the swatter stands up like a flag pole. (only works if you sleep on your back,
otherwise you have to tuck it into other places best not mentioned.) Scares those little buggers somethin' fierce!
Honestly.
As always,
Your T.T. neighbor,
P<*)))><
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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Mexray
Super Nomad
Posts: 1016
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: California Delta
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Mood: Baja Time
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Mike...the bees are fierce down in Mulege this season...
One of the first things we do upon opening up our palapa is to mix and fill our hummer' feeders. This October, the blooming flowers must be few and
far between, as the hummers' flocked to our feeders within minutes of installation.
Two days after hanging the feeders, the local bee colony also found their new source of nourishment - again, not many natural blossoms around to fill
the bill, so to say! The bees were in such a feeding frenzy, we were forced to put the feeders away when empty (in one day!) to try and keep the
pesky bees away from our living quarters - all open air, without screens. I'm afraid I'm not as 'bee-friendly' as you are - when they invaded us at
meal time, it was SWAT-SWAT and another bee was dispatched to that great honey gathering spot in the sky!
I've been involved with bee-keeping in an earlier life, and know of the importance of their existence - BUT, these 'workers' were just down right
pesky and persistent! It was them or us in the palapa, and we, for the most part, kept the upper hand...near the swatter!
We felt sorry for the hummer's, as they kept up their search for the missing feeders our whole stay there on the beach for most of October. We
enjoyed their company when they flew inside to check out every bright red object at hand!
With the arrival of November, many of the other palapa's on the beach will be occupied by those able to spend the winter season, and many of them will
provide the Hummers' with new sources of nectar.
Those pesky bees, with have to fend for themselves, as alas, their arch enemy has had to return to Northern Calif to replenish his own honeycombs!!!
According to my clock...anytime is \'BAJA TIME\' & as Jimmy Buffett says,
\"It doesn\'t use numbers or moving hands It always just says now...\"
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