Just call me MAM

By Mary Alice Murphy

I've had nature tales to tell you for a while, but have been too busy, as, in some days, overwhelmed, but you deserve to hear the stories anyway.

For several weeks around the end of August and first part of September, we had swarms of hummingbirds coming through and quickly emptying the feeders.

Then all of a sudden one day, after a north wind came through, we were down to just two to five or six hummers a day. I don't think we have any more than two or three now, but they make frequent trips to the feeders.

One evening, when it was already dark, and any self-respecting hummingbird would have gone to roost, I noticed there was still a fair bit of nectar left. However, the next morning early, not too long past dawn, it was empty, as in bone-dry. This has happened overnight for the past 10 days.

I checked the feeder to make sure it wasn't cracked and leaking, but there was no sign of leakage, and besides, there would still be food during the day. It disappeared overnight.

My husband suggested maybe bats or nocturnal moths were supping at night. I asked at the Extension service if bats drank out of feeders. One of the gals did a search and came up with two studies that showed that bats DO drink out of nectar feeders.

Did you know that? I certainly didn't. I knew we had bats around because I've seen them at night. We don't mind their presence at all, because with all the rain we've had, mosquitoes would be bad, if it weren't for the appetites of voracious bats. I just hope they remember that they are supposed to eat the mosquitoes and then they can come have dessert at the hummingbird feeders.

According to our rain gauge, we've had well over 15 inches of rain this year, so we've finally surpassed our annual average of 14 inches, which we hadn't seen in several years.

I'm sorry for all the folks who have experienced flooding this year, not only in local venues, such as Santa Clara, and our nearby neighbors in Catron County and up by the Cliff Dwellings, but all the way up to Colorado where rivers and creeks took out buildings and people. Most of the flooding has been a result of fire scars and the lack of vegetation to soak up the water before it turns into torrents.

Poor Mogollon in our neck of the woods—The folks there are survivors and pioneer types, but even they need a road to get in and out. I guess it will be a while before any visitors will be heading that way. And Glenwood will be without its Catwalk again for a while. I wonder what the likelihood is of its being rebuilt.

Stay dry, stay high up, and watch the weather. I've always been a cloud watcher in fair weather and foul.

I'm hoping that the plentiful monsoon season this year will translate to a snowy winter, too.

I would love to hear your nature tales at justcallmemam@grantcountybeat.com

May your musings bring you beauty!