The Sound of Goodbye

The jaunty little green birds are not coming by the feeder as often anymore, and I know that some of them have already begun their long journey south. Every year, they appear in our yard near the end of April and disappear in mid to late September. It's like clockwork.

Monday was a holiday in the U.S.; Labor Day, to be specific. So we had the day off from our labors, at least the official, work-assigned ones. And I found a few minutes before the day got too hot to sit in the backyard and watch and wait for hummingbirds.

I have read that the ruby throat males are usually among the first to leave, but there this one was, enjoying a lengthy sip from the feeder. I did not witness any additional hummingbirds, or hear their tiny squabbles around the feeder. No zooms, no high-pitched squeaks, no whir of additional wings.

I thought I did hear a sound on the breeze, though. It was something like silence. But it was the thing that precedes the silence: it just might have been the sound of goodbye. The soundtrack: Crystal Gayle, with The Sound of Goodbye.

P.S. If you live in a hummingbird area, please keep those feeders clean and full! The little birds will need all the snacks they can find to fatten up for their long journey south!