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In The Back Yard: Hummingbirds

in the back yard hummingbirds


Welcome to the back yard - small thoughts about living alongside wildlife.

We have a lot of fun watching our Hummingbird feeder.

We have 3 current resident Hummingbirds who spend the day guarding it and dive bombing eachother - classic aerial combat like a Spitfire taking out a Messerchmidt above the English Channel in World War 2.

Incredible. There's more than enough to go around.

Yet what they lack in social graces pales significantly in their tremendous feats of migration.

September will see most Hummingbirds leave Georgia.  Females and juveniles are the last to leave as they need to build up critical fat reserves for the flight to the Gulf Coast which can take a few weeks. 

They will then make a nonstop 500 mile flight directly across the open water of the Gulf. This takes about 20 hours for these birdswho weigh less than an ounce.

So aim to keep those Hummingbird feeders clean and refueled every 2 to 3 days to help these rather exceptional athletes.

Additional Information:

  • To make Hummingbird water mix 1 part white sugar with 4 parts water.
  • Native plants and Hummingbird feeders are vital for Hummingbirds and provide a great resting place for them on their migration.
  • Please no colored dye in the sugar water.
  • Plastic feeders tend to promote mold growth. A glass feeder is best and please keep it clean.
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In The Back Yard: Birds

in the back yard helping birds

Welcome to the back yard - where we have small thoughts about living alongside wildlife.

Our yard is so full of bird life at the moment. There is a female Cardinal splashing around in a bird bath. Another one waiting to take her turn, and a male Cardinal in the Gardenia Bush watching it all. 

There is a constant stream of birds at the bird feeder - Cardinals, Thrashers, Doves - until the Blue Jay pulls rank and swoops in scattering seed everywhere.

The squirrels, of course, appreciate that - although they are quite adept at making super-human leaps on to the feeder that often stick. They then lie there munching away contentedly.

This does not amuse the birds. Or us, But so goes the day in the back yard.

The birds carry on their lives with not much of a glance in our direction.

Which is how it should be. They are wild creatures pursuing life as best they can with what they've got.

Let's be good neighbors though be planting native plants for them. Native plants provide food and protection.

A bird feeder and a bird bath are great supplemental additions to a back yard too especially in winter and drought conditions.

The birds might not notice us too much.

But watching them might bring a joy and pleasure that might surprise you.

Additional Thoughts:

  • Please keep birdfeedeers and bird baths clean to prevent the spread of any disease amongst a back yard population and any migrating birds that will appreciate it on route.
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In The Back Yard: Welcome

in the back yard
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Rob spent 10 years advocating for animals - shelter animals, farm animals, wild animals - through Rob's Rescues. We traveled all over the place.

He is currently a full time college student and collegiate golfer, and I sit out in the back yard and realize there are so many things right back here worth calling attention to.

So here we are in the back yard having small thoughts about living alongside wildlife.

Their lives belong to them - and as far as possible we need to leave wildlife alone to make their nests, raise their young, sing their songs, and quietly carry on their days pursuing life.

We are not responsible for their lives.

We are responsible for our actions towards the wildlife around us.

We owe it to them and ourselves, to be thoughtful, compassionate neighbors to the animals in our back yard.

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WHS Honor’s Society Donation to Rob’s Rescues

The Woodstock HIgh School Honor's Society made a huge collection of pet food, toys and blankets to Rob's Rescues. We took all of this to Cherokee County and Cobb County Animal shelters for their pantries that help people who cannot afford to feed their animals and who rely on the shelter pantry for help.

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Golf Team Donation to Rob’s Rescues

Alan Fowler from the Louis Lloyd Golf Company reached out to me to donate pet food to Rob’s Rescues. He was invited to give a motivational talk to the Woodstock High School Boys Golf Team and the whole WHS team did a community outreach project collecting pet food for those in need in our community. This food will go to the Cherokee County Animal Shelter for its pet food pantry and will be used to help seniors in the Meals on Wheels program who struggle to afford to feed themselves and their pets. This is part of the shelter’s PAWS program. If any other teams or companies want to collect pet food for people in need let me know. 

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Retirement Community Cat Club Invitation

I was invited to be a guest of the Cat Club at the Holbrook Retirement Community in Acworth by Ms Cheri Sherrill. I went to meet them and I enjoyed talking to everyone about their cats, and a bird in one case, and about the importance of spay and neuter, and opportunities for volunteering in the community. I told them about volunteer opportunities at Cobb County Animal Services and Furkids. They were very nice people and I enjoyed meeting them.

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Outreach into Floyd County

Every quarter I go up to Rome, which is in Floyd County, with some rescue groups. You see things like dogs on chains and animals living in very poor situations. We basically go up with pet food, toys and other supplies to try and help out. We lay out straw and cedar and dog houses because the dogs have to sleep outside in all sorts of weather. Donations are always needed for vetting, spay and neuter and food. We take up food donated from people here as well as from Frida’s Foundation, Pet Buddies Food Pantry and Bridgemill Pets.  Funds 4 Furry Friends provides a lot of money for helping Rome dogs too. 

My friend, Keeton Nelson, has come up and volunteered the last 2 times. This is what he says about the experience. I like being able to go out to help my community and help animals and people taking care of their animals. I have seen many animals that are in dire need of assistance and help and I have learned that it is always important to help because of the happiness that it brings people and how it helps the animals. 

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Talking to Cub Scouts About Shelter Animals

I was invited to come and speak to a group of cub scouts. I talked to them about what I do and how to help shelter animals and community cats and I told them about Dr. Good’s Homeless Pet Clubs which is something that they can think about forming. 

If you are a teacher and would like me to come and talk to your class I can do that. I also have a Classroom Video on my website that you can show to kids to tell them about shelters and how they can help shelter animals. 

The cub scout talk was filmed by Dreampost Productions for the Dr. Good Unleashed Video series. Have a look at that as well.

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Building Cat Shelters

I had friends over to build feral cat shelters for a project to help feral cats by Hope Lewallen in Dalton, GA. We built feral shelters and then I took them to Dalton and helped put them in places where feral cats live to hopefully give them some shelter over the winter. This was filmed by Dreampost Films for the Dr. Good Unleashed Video series. You can watch it on Episode 1.36. 

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What Not To Do When Adopting a Cat

Deputy Amy Chapman of Cobb County Animal Services had some good advice for what not to do when you adopt a cat: This cat in the picture, Riley, was adopted from Cobb as a kitten. He was then declawed, fed bad food and became very fat. Then he was returned to the shelter. Please don’t declaw your cat. Declawing means removing the tip of the cat’s toe. If a cat is front declawed it will walk on its wrist. As they get older their wrists can develop arthritis, which is painful. It is uncomfortable to cover litter so some will start not using the litter box. As they are in pain they are more likely to bite. Being overweight and declawed causes even more discomfort and arthritis. In a lot of countries front declawing is illegal. Cats generally don’t scratch because they are trying to file their nails down. They scratch because they have scent pads in their paws and like putting scent on their favorite places. The solution is often to give them a scratch pad and to trim their nails. Being overweight and front declawed is a double whammy for cats. Overweight cats are much more susceptible to liver failure, arthritis in joints, back and hips. Fat around their heart can lead to heart attacks.