Any port in a storm

[Faulkner]

Okay, this will be the last of the hummingbird videos from the Ozarks for this season, but I did think it was pretty cool.

We had a very strong unforecasted local thunderstorm pop up yesterday afternoon that dumped over an inch of rain on a very small area in about 45 minutes time. I was inside the house with Mrs. Faulkner when I heard a noise on our deck and looked outside and saw some of our deck furniture being blown across the deck. I stepped out and saw a dark cloud to the north and watched lightning bolts shooting out the top and sides and the wind was blowing like crazy. What caught my eye, though, was even though our several hummingbird feeders were swaying in the wind they had hummingbirds trying to land and feed.

I stepped back inside for a moment and grabbed my phone and came out and took several short videos, then changed the setting to "slo-motion" and took a couple of more of the hummingbirds fighting the strong wind and swaying feeders trying to land on them. You got to hand it to the little boogers, they have tenacity.

 

[cp1969]

Nice video! Our hummingbirds seem to be more agressive. They try to chase one another off instead of just taking a seat at the bar.
Question: What is the 'umbrella' thing over the top? Does it have a water moat inside to trap ants or is it just for shade?

 

[Faulkner]

It is primarily a ant moat

 

[Sebago Son]

I saw the last birds of the season on Saturday morning.... one lone hen... she tanked up and then hit the road headed south. I watched her go with a heavy heart. Normally I have a dozen or so nesting birds here and they carry off two, sometimes three clutches. By late August I am usually mobbed... Not this year.. I don't think we had a very successful breeding year. I rarely saw two birds on the feeders at a time.... I hope that won't mean another bad year next season...

 

[Bald1]

Cool video. National Geographic quality……. But I want to know about what appears to be the Taj Mahal of deer blinds

 

[Faulkner]

Cool video. National Geographic quality……. But I want to know about what appears to be the Taj Mahal of deer blinds

Yeah, that's a deer stand frame that a local guy makes. I have four of them. They are light enough that one man can drag it or two can carry it to where you want to set it up, then we tie it down and place a hanging weight on it for stabilization.

Once in place I have a couple of different ways that I outfit it. For deep in the woods locations where we have to hike in material I have a 1/4 plywood floor and roof cut out for it and then I use camo tarps to wrap it. For places where I can get my truck close to it I mount it with sheets of 1/4 plywood that are camo painted for the sides, and the same for floor and roof.

I bought them mainly when my dad got to his late 70's and I didn't want him climbing up on leaning stands. He's 85 now and still hunts and loves this setup.

 

[CamW]

Great video! It reminded me of this:

 

[Phenix]

Great video! It reminded me of this:

JESUS!
I'll bet there were some thanks given to God after landing and the engines were winding down. .
Another example of those military job days where you might think you don't get paid enough to have to do this.