Today on the Allegheny River

Well perhaps it was not that I was not around when the hummingbirds were fluttering around but that the hummingbirds were actually not fluttering very much.

It seems as if they discovered the feeder this morning (and the evening as well). Perhaps my mixture was not sweet enough (one teaspoon for very 2 oz of water) but I did add a little extra as I often do with my coffee brewing. Not sure why I do that exactly, but I guess it was what my mother did when she made coffee… A little extra for good luck. Well it worked today.

Thanks to Paschal and Manfred for giving us their feeder now that they are back in Germany. Paschal told me it would be early May when the hummers returned. It was actually August 3rd before they hung around long enough!

Okay, so sometimes it is a little slow on the River like today. Plenty of action over the weekend but come Monday everyone is back to work. Driving back home I also so a big load of coal going up River by rail which explained why there were no coal barges on the River. I have to think that a 25 rail car train carrying coal provides a lot more coal than a 3 car barge.

So that leaves me with the opportunity to find the hummingbirds who stalk the feeder only to flit away when they see me move to bring my camera up to my eyes. In addition to the stealthiness, the few guys I’ve seen don’t seem to be as colorful as I remember from last year but regardless, we’re now on full hummingbird alert so that we can capture and secure a photo of the neighborhood hummers.

In the meantime enjoy the picture of the hummingbee

When I’m out at a conference all day, like I was today, I really can’t tell what happened on the River that day. Its more like a glimpse of the River. Today’s glimpse is brought to you by the Goose Family who cruised out into the River from their shore side hideaway in the early evening. Using their stealth single line up to hide how many of them there are, they moseyed out to the middle of the River to enjoy a later afternoon swim.