Limpkin January 2005

Hurricane Hummingbirds

Copyright 2004 by By Betsy Franz

Albert Einstein once said “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” On the morning of Sunday, September 5, when 75 mph winds from hurricane Frances were ravaging Brevard County, Florida we all had the opportunity to decide which way we wanted to live our lives.

I, for one, was again reminded about the constant miracles of life. My husband and I stood on the porch on the sheltered side of our home and watched the winds topple and break huge, ancient, mighty oaks. Suddenly, out of the midst of these destructive winds, a tiny miracle appeared. No more than 10 feet from where we stood, a ruby throated hummingbird emerged and hovered in front of our native firebush plant, jockeying back and forth with the gusts of wind to get nectar from the swaying plant. Unbelievably, this bird came back time and again to drink from this plant.

Because of their scarcity, the sight of a hummingbird in Brevard County is almost a miracle in itself. But to see the determination of this tiny 3 inch bird, which weighs about 1/10th of an ounce, in the face of a storm that put fear into the hearts of millions of Florida residents was truly remarkable.

The next morning, most of the firebush plant was gone, victim of the winds that continued to batter Brevard County for hours. But much to our pleasure and surprise, our new hummingbird visitor was still there, dining on the other plants that we have provided for wildlife, including wild petunia and scarlet sage.

So although we didn’t have power and the boarded windows blocked out the light, my first action of the day was to dig out an old, previously un-visited hummingbird feeder and boil up some hummingbird nectar on our propane stove.

I lived in Florida for 37 years before I was able to entice a hummingbird to my yard by changing some of my gardening practices. This year, it took a hurricane for me to be able to really observe them up close. I have been able to sit on a bench on my front porch and watch daily as hummingbirds visit my feeders. It is the first time that I have seen what I have only read about before: their territorial actions of chasing other hummers from the feeder and their fights with the bees that also visit the feeders. I have had them hover in front of me and make their tiny chirping sound. Were they thanking me or just observing me to see if I meant them any harm? We have watched these tiny birds sitting on the tops of huge oaks fluffing their feathers.

For four months we were incredibly blessed by daily visits from these wonderful birds. I even went out and bought a new camera and got some incredible photos, one of which made the cover of the December/January 2005 issue of Florida Gardening magazine (available in local Publix, Walmarts and bookstores through February 1). Several months ago I was in search of a picture of a hummingbird to use on the Backyard Brevard Web site (www.backyardbrevard.com). Now I have so many I have to delete them to free up disk space.

Slowly, as December arrived, the hummingbirds stopped by less and less often, until they finally stopped showing up on December 8. Hopefully, they are well on their way to some sunny spot south of here, but will return in the spring.

Since we first purchased our property, we began immediately to make an effort to keep our property wildlife friendly. We have purchased plants that are favorites of local wildlife, have provided water and shelter and have eliminated the use of harmful chemicals in our yard. We have done this not only because we love seeing gopher tortoises, rabbits, birds, butterflies, foxes and even a bobcat in our yard. But also because we love the natural beauty of Brevard County and want to do our part to help preserve it. We have become so enthralled by the wildlife that we have been able to attract to our own yard, that we have even begun a grass-roots effort called Project Backyard Brevard to try to encourage other residents.

The one-two punch of first hurricane Charley and then Frances affected all of us in Brevard County, but the affect on the nature lovers was a little different. They were the ones that mourned the loss of their trees and gardens as much as the loss of their power and water. They were the ones that rushed outside after the storm to see how many of their butterfly caterpillars and chrysalides had survived or to re-hang their feeders so that the animals could find food. They were the ones that braved the lines at the stores not for anything as practical as batteries or ice, but to find seed and nectar for the new visiting wildlife that the storm had blown in.

But they were also the ones that had the comfort of the miracles of nature to help soothe them after the storm: butterflies and hummingbirds, gopher and box turtles, birds, squirrels and other wildlife friends who have grown to be as much a part of their landscape as the trees and plants. These little miracles were all there to help comfort them after the storm because they had made an effort to make their yard inviting to them.

We all have a long road ahead of us in rebuilding, replanting and reshaping Brevard County, Florida. What will the new face of Brevard County be? That’s up to all of us. Maybe it all depends on how many people still believe in miracles and want to help encourage more of them into their own lives.