Spring Alert!

Lightning Bug; I’m determined to get a shot this year of one of these creatures with its abdomen lighting up!

Just a quickie tonight…

It’s my great pleasure to confirm that a couple of the major markers of Spring have arrived! Specifically, lightning bugs and hummingbirds are here!

I ended up taking my walk tonight a bit later than I usually do. As a result, I was out walking with the dogs when I suddenly realized that those flashes of light I was catching in the corner of my eyes were lightning bugs!

It was a weird sensation, to be honest. It was as if I momentarily forgot what time of year it was. As I started observing the evidence of lightning bugs, registering those bright flashes within the branches of the massive pine trees along our path, a part of my mind just glossed over the fact that it had been many months since I’d last seen these creatures. For a moment, I just took their presence for granted.

But then I realized…it’s only May 12^th. These must be baby lightning bugs! Oooh! It’s lightning bug season again.

I felt a similar zing of joy just this past Sunday, when I was literally ‘buzzed’ by a ruby-throated hummingbird making his way to the many-colored blossoms of plants in the hanging baskets on my porch.

On my porch.

Hallelujah! For whatever reason, I always associate the return of hummingbirds as a positive sign about the health of the local ecology. It feels significant to me each and every year I spot them for the first time, that they’ve chosen to return to this place. I trust that if they sensed the environment wasn’t safe, they wouldn’t come back. It’s also a comfort that they survived their migration.

I’m happy to say I’ve seen them every single day since that initial buzz on Mother’s Day. The only problem (which isn’t a problem) is that now I need to make them the ‘special concoction’ that keeps these wondrous creatures flitting about and – ideally – making nests and creating families. Hummingbird crack, as we call it, is simply a diluted version of the sugar water I make for the bees. And make no mistake: it has to be made with good old-fashioned regular white sugar. None of that ‘organic’ stuff. They hate that! (Really – it’s true. They literally recoil when they realize the nectar hasn’t been made with white processed sugar.) It’s true for bees, too.

All I can say is, between our birds and (especially) our bees, it’s a good thing we belong to Costco, where a 10 lb. bag of sugar is only something like $6.70. (“Only” I say, as I roll my eyes.)

I haven’t been quick enough yet to photograph a hummingbird over the past couple of days. Maybe once I get some feeders up, they won’t flit away quite so fast and I’ll catch a few shots to share with you. In the meantime, I’ll share some of my photos from years gone by.

Keep your eyes peeled. They’re back!

Happy Spring everyone. Let’s take this display of nature’s comforting cycles and resilience and allow it to inspire us.