My Poor Hummingbird!

So it snowed last night!  And my poor hummingbird appears to have spent the whole time buzzing away under my porch, trying to keep warm.  His feathers are so fluffed up he looks like a little gray tennis ball with a red blur that only shows intermittently.  It's a sad scene but he's getting enough nourishment.  It appears he has eaten ten times his weight in the 16 hours since he first appeared, perhaps more.  Trying to keep warm in this miserable weather must be exhausting for the little birds.  Then there is the shock of climate change.  They come up from Mexico and South America.  Not a lot of snow in the areas they winter in.  

Worrying about the hummers freezing is a traditional part of Spring in Empire.  We have our strange rituals in the mountains, the search for flowers, the ear kept open to hear the blur of wings that indicates hummingbirds have returned for the season, and one of my favorites, the first fishing trip of spring.  I have to get it in quickly before run-off makes the water murky and muddy.  I'm really looking forward to those hours spent on the water in the sun.