It's Not Easy Capturing Joy!

photo by ana traina ~ 2011

It is not easy to capture a scooting hummingbird on film, I should know, I have been trying since last summer without any success. Until, yesterday when my son pointed out that there was a hummingbird at our feeder. Excited beyond compare, I quickly got my camera and ran over to the window to see if I could finally capture this colorful, combative, and swagalicous wind-dancer on film.  O’ yes, I am happy to report that I was dancing, prancing, and high fiving around my kitchen,  deliriously high on the glories of the very favorable outcome of my very clumsy endeavor! So... then of course, you guessed it, I had to do some research. Here is what I was able to uncover and discover about the hummingbird and its lore.

A Hummingbird is a small bird of the Trochilidae family. The rapid beating of the hummingbirds wings (60 to 80 beats per second) makes the distinctive humming sound from which they get their name.

The vibration or song of a hummingbird awakens the medicine flowers. Flowers love hummingbird because nectar sucking brings about the reproduction of their families.

Hummingbird can fly in any direction – up, down, backwards and forwards. Hummingbird can also hover in one spot and appear to be motionless.

Because of their magical qualities, Hummingbird feathers have been used for a millennium in the making of love charms. It is said that Hummingbird conjures love as no other medicine does, and that Hummingbird feathers open the heart. Without an open and loving heart, you can never taste the nectar and pure bliss of life.

photo by milia kinkova

A dead hummingbird may be worn around the neck in a little bag, to give the wearer the power to attract members of the opposite sex, or it may be dried and a little powder dropped into the drink of the person whose love is desired.”

To a hummingbird, life is a wonderland of delight – they dart from one beautiful flower to another, tasting the essences and radiating the colors.

Beauty is the target, and Hummingbird’s mission is to spread joy.

A hummingbird can quickly dies if caged, caught or imprisoned.

The Aztecs believed that hummingbirds were the reincarnation of brave warriors killed in battle.

Hummingbirds bring rain.

Hummingbirds are linked to the Faerie Realm, and pass freely back and forth.

Hummingbirds migrate across great bodies of water by hitching rides on the backs of geese.

Hummingbirds are usually considered a good omen. If you see one, you can expect that something good is going to happen to you very soon.

Also if a person is lucky enough to be able to see a hummingbird as it is right at a flower, they will have great luck flower down upon them for the rest of their days.

If you so desire to Plan A Hummingbird Garden ...here's a list of Hummingbird Favorite's Flowers!          
            Bee Balm (monarda spp)
            Cardinal Flower (lobelia cardinalis)
            Columbine (Aquilegia spp)
            Coralbells (heuchera sanguinea)
            Fushia
            Impatiens (Impatiens wallerana)
            Nasturtium (tropaeolum majus)
            Petunia
            Phlox
            Red-hot poker (kniphofia)
            Scarlet sage (salvia spendens)

            Vines..
            Japanese honeysuckle (lonicera japonica)
            Trumpet creeper (campis radicans)
            Passionflower (passiflora spp)
            Clematis

            Shrubs..
            Butterfly bush (buddleia davidii)
            Flowering quince (Chaenomeles)
            Tree tobacco (nicotiana glauca)

            Trees..
            Tulip Poplar
            Siberian Crab Apple
            Japanese flowering crab apple