后院的蜂鸟

2021-07-16 09:07

写完了火龙果来写写后院最近的蜂鸟。

几个星期前，后院的Aloe vera抽出花茎，几朵稀疏钟铃似的小花苞开始绽放。一日，见一只蜂鸟舞动着翅膀吮吸着花瓣深处可怜的一点点花蜜, 心中顿生一丝怜悯。想起了很多年前蜂鸟在后院筑巢生宝宝, 我还自称是鸟外婆。后来周遭的环境越来越恶劣，虽然还有两三次蜂鸟来筑巢的，但是都可能因为有鹰，有老鼠这样的天敌，蜂鸟宝宝都夭折。同时也想起家中好像还收着一个塑料的蜂鸟糖水容器。

又过了一些天，在车库里找到了那个泛黄发旧的容器，容器的顶端因为刷子够不着，洗不去的污垢已经成为容器的一部分，不过这不会影响糖水的干净的。上周五快下班时，往洗净的容器里灌入浓浓的糖水，挂在了架子上。一两个小时后，一只飞来的蜂鸟就发现这个红色底盘、上面点缀着四朵小黄花用作出水口的容器。只见蜂鸟围着仔细端详了一阵，还查看了挂在一旁的风铃，确认后最后一头扎下去猛吸了十几口。我高兴地看着，搬来相机拍着，那个周末去Costco给女儿买东西，还带回了一大包10磅的白糖，心想，这下够它们喝一阵了。

我是个怕狗怕猫之人，没有养过宠物，也不想有太多的情感牵挂。养过九个月的鸡，还记得养鸡时的牵肠挂肚和忙碌。养狗养猫很容易养出感情，我不想被这种感情所左右，不喜欢太多的牵绊，只想过简简单单平平淡淡的生活。那日挂起糖水时还很得意自己的举措，蜂鸟是属于天空，而它们又会每天来我家，这样的"宠物"多好，它自由我自由。

然而接下来的一幕又让我大跌眼镜。一两天后，发现有一只蜂鸟想独霸这糖水，凡是前来想喝糖水的蜂鸟都被它阻拦、被它攻击。为此，后院失去了往日的宁静。两/三只蜂鸟吵啊叫啊打啊，不可开交，互不相让，谁也不服谁。那架势很凶的，叽叽喳喳吵，空中穷追不舍，嗖嗖飞过，振动的翅膀呼呼响。有时，两只鸟拍着翅膀快速地直线上升又直线下滑，然后彼此在空中猛烈撞击，飞行速度之快，叫声之尖锐，音频之急促让人惊叹不已。那只小小的蜂鸟很霸道，好像这糖水罐是它的一样，时不时停在附近的枝条上或高高的火龙果枝条上，大有占山为王的架势。

周日晚上见它这般模样，我还笑了，心想这鸟为了口吃的够拼的，好一副名正言顺"这糖水是我的"的架势，晚上八点多了，还恋恋不舍地守着，可怜可恶又可爱。

如果说，周末有时候忙于其他家事不会时时刻刻去注意它们，那么周一在家上班却着实让我开了眼界。我坐在楼下靠窗的桌上办公，窗户开着。八点多钟，就开始听见蜂鸟在那里打架，叽叽喳喳吵个不停。我推开门看着，恨不能用鸟语告诉它们，不要吵，大家都有一口，糖水不够可以再灌。记得后院几年前挂过这个糖水罐的，怎么好像不记得有这样的"想独霸吃独食"的一景，依稀记得有两只蜂鸟一起和谐共喝的一幕。看来是现在资源匮乏了，鸟也变坏了:)

很快，这不绝于耳的打斗声开始让我心烦意乱，越来越坐立不安，我无法清静地坐在桌前看书工作。早上11点多电话会议结束后，忍无可忍的我冲出门，爬上去把糖罐拿了下来，很想好好教育一番小鸟。那只守在附近的蜂鸟很快发现糖水罐不见了，飞到空空的架下不停飞舞着，迷茫着，好像在问"who took my honey?"

十一点半多，楼上某人喊打球，我上了楼，拉开后窗的帘子，只见那只蜂鸟蹲在高高的火龙果新抽出的枝条顶部，面朝糖水罐方向痴痴地望着。我指着窗外的蜂鸟，告诉他说，我把那个糖水罐给撤了，蜂鸟为此打架不休呢，烦死人了。

某人说，打架就打架，总好过没有吃的了。

话说，男人有时候心肠比女人还软。

我听后，随即跑下楼去又重新把它挂了回去。就这样，可怜的鸟儿们继续吵，继续打，几乎整整一天，谁也不服谁，耗尽的力气都够飞到千里之外的花园找到更甜美的花蜜了。那只霸道的蜂鸟还一直守着附近，守着它的一日三餐，好像有了糖水罐，从此就可以衣食无忧，不用劳动，幸福生活似的。

后记:

周三在家上班，情况有所好转，至少白天不吵了，虽然那只霸道的蜂鸟还在清晨和傍晚占据山头，不让别的蜂鸟靠近糖罐，不过白天的后院恢复了往日的平静。

想着再买一个feeder，情况会如何?

In the backyard, a tall stem erected from a Aloe vera was bearing a couple of bell-shaped flowers, attracting hummingbirds for the honey. As I saw a pitiful bird fluttering hard, poking its beak deep into a narrow flower tube for meagre honey, my sympathy was roused. Weeks later, an old hummingbird feeder, found back in the garage, was cleaned, filled with dissolved sugar water, and hung on the trellis.

The bright red color base with four yellow flower-shaped petals as its feeding mouths, designed for color-sensitive hummingbird, soon effectively lured a hummingbird, who examined the feeder and the area fully before plunging in and sucked more than 10 times (A record of around 60 was noticed days later for a hummingbird).

But when more birds wanted to join the party the next day, the happy aggressive hummingbird turned sour. In an attempt to claim the sole ownership, it started chasing off any other hummingbird from the area, and thus sparked a bout of fights. At a lightning speed, the hummingbirds whooshed by. Then in a second they rose up to the sky, and plummeted like a rock, bumping against each other in the air with all its force and strength. The fights culminated the following day, and for the whole day while I was working next to window, the garden was engulfed in the fighting noises, sharp, high-pitched and non-stopped. The scarcity of food source has made hummingbird selfish. Their presence was not a joy as I expected, but an irritant. For once, I stormed out of the door, took the feeder down and shut myself in, leaving the hapless hummingbird confused and restlessly hovering under the empty space. But then empathy triumphed, and the feeder was put back to the spot.

Luckily the intensity ebbed after a day or two before the backyard resumed its normalcy on Wednesday. The aggressive hummingbird, though still seen circling around and chasing off others in the dusk, was no longer so agitated in the day. It visited the backyard a few times in the morning and the afternoon, rested on a slender dangling vine by the feeder, or perched at the tip of a new dragon fruit shoot, overlooking the yard, and then soared away in a fleeting second.

Would one more new feeder allay their jitters?