Category: In The Back Yard

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In The Back Yard: Hummingbird Rescue

in the back yard hummingbird rescue

Welcome to In The Back Yard - where we have small thoughts about how to live alongside wildlife.

I got a call – it was late and I was already in bed. It was our neighbor. A Hummingbird had been stuck in their garage. At that moment it was lying at the now open garage door. Immobile.

I went over, the little thing was so weak. I thought, oh my God, it’s almost dead. I went to pick it up and it made a last ditch move straight up to the garage eves where it promptly got stuck in a large spider web. It was just dangling there lifeless. It was horrible.

I grabbed a broom stick and tried to break the spiders web. Neighbor grabbed a duster type thing which was large and soft. I put it under the bird and brought him down on it. Literally I thought it was dead but I got my feeder from my backyard and the neighbor got a shallow dish of sugar water.

Through Rob’s Rescues- Rob had interviewed a Hummingbird rehabber some years back – I talked to her.

I put the hummingbird on a soft towel with the feeder into a box and shone a light into the box for 15 minutes. Hummingbirds only feed in the light. I did hear it move around in there which was a positive sign.

After 15 minutes I took the light away and left it to rest in the box over night.

I was very nervous as to what I might find in the morning but just around sunrise I opened the box and the little thing buzzed straight on up and out seeming none the worse for wear. Within seconds it was divebombed by the other current resident Hummingbird and they went their merry way filling their days at the feeder in preparation of migration.

This had a happy ending.

A lot of birds are not as lucky.

Additional Thoughts:

Humming bird feeders go along way to supporting these little endurance athletes on their migration route.

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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.