Early this summer, a hummingbird flew right up to the kitchen window over the sink where I was puttering. It hovered there, staring me straight in the eye for what seemed at least thirty seconds.. That's a long time for a hummer to hover in one spot, as if parked there in neutral gear. Then it zoomed away to sip from a petunia blossom in a hanging basket at the edge of the carport.

That morning began my love affair with hummingbirds.

The next day the hummer repeated his behavior at the same window, just hovering and staring at me. Later that day, he appeared at the other kitchen window which overlooks a small side porch. The kitchen table is against that window where I can sit to watch the other birds at the feeders. How tremendously exciting to see the tiny hummingbird with his needle-like beak right up against the glass pane peering in at me. What was the message he was sending, I wondered, every time he hovered at one of the windows staring in at me? Was he begging me to come out and play?

A couple of days later, I drove into beautiful downtown Amelia and bought a hummingbird feeder, two packages of hummingbird nectar and an Ortho hummingbird book. I am now an expert on hummingbirds, so go ahead, ask me a question. I hung the feeder on the outside edge of the porch where I could watch the tiny birds from the kitchen table. The feeder hangs only two feet from the tall bistro table and chair where I sit and read when the weather is cool enough.

The fun began.

It took only one day for the hummers to locate the feeder and to begin the 'getting to know you' process. One hummer began by zooming past my face so close that the breeze his wings created stirred my hair. He turned and zoomed back from the other direction, again very close to my face. I was very glad to be wearing glasses for his long needle-like beak was awfully close to my face. Was he trying to scare me, I wondered? Was this a test? Or was it some sort of hummingbird game?

This delightful activity has continued every day all summer long. One hummer will zoom past my face, turn around and zoom right back just as close as his first pass. And it seems that they are more active whenever I am outside on the porch. It's as if they were waiting for me to come out so that they have someone to play with, someone to chuckle at their antics, someone to marvel at their beauty and grace.

It is strange that only one hummer will feed at a time although there are eight or ten tiny feeding holes in the base of the feeder. Usually, the hummer will position itself on the far side of the feeder, facing me but actually hidden by the nectar jar. I can see its little tail dipping below the perching bar as it sips the nectar. Sometimes it will poke its head to one side to peer at me, then go back to feeding. Occasionally, one will feed from a side port allowing me a profile view. As long as I'm perfectly still, he will stay until he's sated. If he sees me so much as blink, he will fly away.

Yesterday I was standing outside and one of the hummers flew up close and performed an aerial dance. He hovered directly in front of me for a few seconds, then moved to the left for a few more seconds before moving to the right. Then he moved up a little before finally coming back to center. All this time he was facing me, never looking away. You probably know that they hover in an upright position, like minuscule penguins with their wings stretched straight out to the side.

What an exciting love affair this continues to be. I will really miss these beautiful little creatures when they fly south to Mexico for the winter. But for right now, we continue to enjoy each others' company.