I awoke to the distant rumble of thunder. I walked out on the back porch to lightening and more thunder and a darker than normal pre-sunrise backyard. The radar tells the story.
The only sound besides the thunder… the cheeps of the hummingbirds in the dark. I’ve figured out what’s got me so amazed about this gathering of hummers… usually they start arriving after the fall morning glory bloom arrives. This year there isn’t a morning glory to be found anywhere… yet. And already I’m seeing fall migration numbers
As the rain starts falling, sirens around the town are starting to sound. So far the rain is manifesting as scattered large drops. But to the south and west the sky is darkening.
Traffic sounds on the bypass are loud this morning. Wet roads and heavier air carry the sound. And now, the rain is here and it’s not pretending. But, it’s not stopping the hummers at the feeders in the rain… and still the lightning flahes and the thunder rolls as the sun breaks through the clouds to the east.
I have another grandkid to shame out of bed, so it’s time to go in. Y’all stay safe, stay healthy, and Pray for our Nation and the World.
My apartment faces east, but when I took the trash out about a half hour ago, I saw all that excitement to the west. I’ll welcome the rain, but I do need to get to work, and it looks as though a little reorganization of the day may be necessary. As for the hummingbirds, a friend who lives up in Montgomery County has had them at her feeders during the last week, and she made the same comment: that it looks like migration has begun. When I heard about all the snow in the mountain west, and the cold front that’s going to be barreling toward the panhandle, it makes sense.
The only thing that’s a problem for the hummingbirds is the lack of food supplies in the still summer landscape. I’ve added three to my existing two and will probably be adding more. One fall I was keeping 10 up during peak migration and it was still a job to keep them filled.