We always look forward to the hummingbirds’ arrival in the spring. Some years they arrive, and then are scarcely seen as summer commences and flowers bloom, offering plenty of food in the wild. This year they have been present all summer, feeding from our feeder and garden blossoms. I usually have at least two or three of them whizzing about the garden, chittering and darting. Sometimes they show off their undulating “U” dance, which is always a delight. They also frequently perch in our birch tree, on our weather stick, or amidst the wisteria vines. I never tire of watching them and am always fascinated by how their colors change depending on the light. They are truly a gift of the season.
hummingbird
with her needle beak
and darting flight
summer seamstress
stitches together
all the sweetness
of the season
©Molly Hogan
This week’s Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Heidi Mordhorst at her blog, My Juicy Little Universe. Be sure to stop by and sip up some poetry!
Nix the comfort zone 
Lovely poem, Molly—I, too, could watch them for hours on end.
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They are such a delightful part of summer!
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There is pure joy in watching them!
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Yes! I love seeing how their colors vary depending on the sunlight.
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Love the stitching metaphor!
We have had a daily hummingbird visitor and now, officially, more monarch babies (4 and counting) than we’ve had for YEARS…though I have yet to see a monarch butterfly…
A reminder that a gardener and nature-lover needs to have patience that extends beyond a single season! (Sometimes WAY beyond!!)
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Yay for your monarchs! I have seen the butterflies out and about, but not often at our house or in our gardens. We still are a caterpillar free zone apparently, but I’ll try to extend my patience a bit further. I have seen loads of swallowtails this year though.
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We get hummingbirds here too, and I love them. Your poem captures the way they capture the “sweetness/of the season.” Lovely.
The four o’clocks in our garden attract hummingbird moths, too, and they also fascinate me!
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We get the hummingbird moths, too! So cool! Like the hummingbirds, they are attracted to our bee balm. This has me thinking that maybe I should plant some more of that!
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the one time I observed for a long time a hummingbird moth in our garden, I was excited beyond measure – it was such a fantastic flyer & it allowed me to be close. Glad you have those visitors, too.
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Molly, the photography is quite lovely. The hummingbird knows how to capture the right flower. I find the seamstress connection is a beautiful thought with just the right word choice. I have only seen the hummingbird finding food at a deck on a neighbor’s house. She was stunning as she kept flying up to the birdfeeder and enjoying her find.
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I’m a big fan of hummingbird feeders. They are simple to keep filled and I have one hanging right in our kitchen window. I see hummingbirds up close each day there, and then also get to see them zipping around in the garden.
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I don’t usually keep my feeders up during the summer, but Jeff saw a hummer recently so I put one out. It’s not visited often but on occasion. I have seen them in the butterfly garden. So butterflies and hummers delight me. I love the metaphor of “summer seamstress stitching together all the sweetness.”
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I keep my feeders up all summer, but often the hummingbirds ignore them. This summer they’ve kept me busy refilling them frequently!
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Great metaphor, Molly! Thank you also for the stunning pictures. Your garden is a delight!
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Thanks, Rose! My poor garden is quite thirsty right now. I’m hoping for some steady days of rain to perk everything up.
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Oh, look at those sweet hummingbirds stitching sweetness of the season. Precious words for these darling birds.
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They are pretty “darling”, aren’t they?
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Summer seamstress!
Yes, yes, yes.
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Thanks again for hosting, Heidi!
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Oh, I love hummingbirds too and they have been a focus of poetry for me as well, Molly! I love your use of the phrase needle beak and sewing theme. So creative! This year, I never put out the feeder, but instead put flower baskets on the same hook where the feeder usually hangs. The hummers have been feeding on the flowers all over my yard. It’s bee fun to watch and I’m not worried about my laziness in changing the sugar water.
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I have hanging baskets elsewhere, so it’s like a buffet around here 🙂 They have kept me busy refilling their sugar water though. (Oh–did you know you don’t even have to heat the water? Just stir water (warm or not) and sugar together until the sugar dissolves and you’re good to go! It does make the process a bit easier.)
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I am always delighted when hummingbirds visit us. We see them often in our flower boxes and one hovers routinely in the morning hours near my sit spot. Yes, seamstresses stitching joy!
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I love that you have a particular “sit spot” and that a hummingbird joins you there each morning. There’s a poem in that!
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Molly! How do you communicate with these fairy creatures in a way to make them pose for your shutter? And so elegantly & vibrantly? These images are remarkable. No hummers currently visiting our red pentas, orange firebush, cardinal plants or red zinnias are n-e-thing but a blurrrrrrr for my camera.
For your understandable need [ in the 19th’s sharing blog] to hum that OnBreak feeling coursing through your neurons down to your toes, look at your hummingbird images.
With a Sept. 2 surgery coming up that I need but don’t want to have as it has a loooong recovering time with limited menu after, I find meself turning to my images of water – a lake, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, our area’s fantastic springs… but water, water, water everywhere, in person, or in image slows me, floats me….
Good luck feeling a slow flow these last days before the 2025-26 SchoolBell.
Many hugs,
your fan,
JAN
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Turning to hummingbirds and water is a beautiful way to slow things down. It makes me think of how the hummingbird, heart beating 1200x/minute, hovers in one spot. Seemingly still. Maybe I can somehow channel a similar stillness in the midst of hurry?
Having had three eye surgeries in the past 4 months (one emergency, the others less dramatic), I can relate to unwanted but necessary surgery. I am glad you’re getting the care you need, but sorry to hear about the weight of a long recovery. If there’s anything I can do to help ease that burden, please let me know. I will think of you often and send all the healing vibes (and waves) your way.
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