Tough Little Survivor

Update on Emmy - she made it through the cold snap this week just fine! Here she is feeding this morning in the shrub by the kitchen window. You often hear people say that someone or something is "tough as nails." The metaphor instead should be - "tough as a hummingbird!" This little wisp of a being weighs an eighth of an ounce, yet she survived 36 hours of windchill temperatures in the single digits and teens (for those of you who are curious, I googled that, I didn't weigh her ;).

I'm sure she's a happy little bird now - it's 40 degrees, on its way up to 51 today. Highs are forecast to be in the 50s, lows in the 30s and 40s for the next six days. This is warm for January in western NC. Maybe she has a guardian angel!

Check out my do-it-yourself bird warming station! The knowledgeable folks at Wild Birds Unlimited advised that a heat lamp can help provide a warming zone, so I purchased one at the hardware store and used the ladder to position it near the feeder. On the coldest evening, she was hovering in front of it for brief intervals!

Another part of the makeshift setup that looks a little silly but serves an important function...see that metal bucket below the lamp? That's in case the 25-30 mph winds managed to loosen or wiggle the clamp. The heat lamp would then theoretically fall into the bucket, not onto the bed of dry leaves below, which could burn the house down. They don't call me "The Fire Marshal" for nothing!

Hope the rest of you will get to enjoy milder weather this weekend too. According to the Weather Channel guys, even northern Minnesota and North Dakota will have above-average temperatures for the next few days. It probably won't last long, but let's enjoy it while we can!