Frozen Moat for Hummingbird Feeder

There had been a frost warning during the night, but I didn’t hear or see it. When I woke up and saw the thermometer on the deck registering one degree below freezing, I took one step outside and retrieved the hummingbird feeder, along with the moat that keeps ants from getting to the sugar water. The plain water in the moat was frozen!!

Hurrying to the feeder on the front porch, I found the moat had not frozen, but the birdbath had!! It is very shallow and responded to all that cold air swirling about.

The feeder beyond the back porch was the last and most exciting. I took down feeder and moat, neither of which had frozen. As I turned to take them inside, I heard a hummingbird right beside me and saw a flash of movement near the hand that was holding the feeder. I think that bird would have taken a sip if I hadn’t been moving! I didn’t stop in time and went on to take the things inside. As soon as I came in from walking, I put everything outside again.

I was about five minutes late going out to walk. Having these two photos, I sent them and a group message to four households. They would know their feeders were probably OK. When I came home, I found a message from Cindy that included a photo of a bear. Her cam had taken it during the night. I checked my cam videos, but only little flying creatures were active near my front walkway. We live in an exciting place!!