I haven't been seeing, or hearing, many hummingbirds recently. I didn't think much of it - it's that time of year when there are plenty of other food sources for them. But they must be around because the levels in some of the feeders have been going down. So I went to refill my feeders yesterday. And was devastated to find a dead hummingbird on the ground by one of the feeders. No idea what the cause of death was or how long it had been there. But if this was the dominant hummingbird controlling the territory around my house, then no wonder things had been quiet. It'll probably take a while for other hummingbirds to return. And let me also say there is something fundamentally sad about seeing such a small and lifeless body of a hummingbird. You realize just how fragile these creatures are, and what a privilege it is to have them around.
