LITTLE WINSTON is back. He sits on a feeder hanging from the crepe myrtle in my front yard. He is a hummingbird, and that is fortunate. For if he were a squirrel, his life would be in grave danger. Winston is a ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris), to be exact, the most widespread species of its kind in North America and often the only one folks in the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada ever encounter. That is because it's the lone type that breeds in these parts during warm months before migrating an astonishing distance to Central America to spend the winter grooving to merengue and salsa music. I can tell that Winston is a male thanks to the iridescent red cravat he wears on his tiny throat. Females sport white ones. Other than that, the sexes are practically identical: Both are around 3 inches long, weigh about 1/10 to 2/10 ounce, and have metallic green feathers. Beating their wings some 50 times per second, they mesmerize us with gymnastic feats, flying up, down, forward, sideways, or backward then hovering or darting off at more than 30 mph. Thus, whenever I watch news reports covering F-16 fighter jets locking radars on UFO's doing incredible things, I suspect the pilots are merely chasing these amazing creatures. They'll ask, excitedly, "Are you guys down there seeing this?" How embarrassing.
MAKE YOUR GARDEN A HUMMINGBIRD MAGNET
Bu hikaye Southern Living dergisinin June - July 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Southern Living dergisinin June - July 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Forging a Legacy - A Fredericksburg, Texas, couple is creating a new class of heirloom cast-iron cookware
When Jay Mallinckrodt pitched the idea of crafting cast-iron cookware to his wife and business partner, Heather, in 2020, she was hesitant. I immediately said no, she recalls with a laugh. But I finally agreed as long as we made something that we would actually want to use ourselves. Like many others during the initial throes of the pandemic, their multigenerational family operation, Heartland Enterprises (which specializes in machining parts for jet engines and gas and oil equipment), was seeing a lull. “No one was flying; no one was drilling, says Jay. So we had time to try something different.
A Butterfly Haven - In the Texas Hill Country, a conservationist is helping monarchs adjust to the changing world
Twenty-four years ago, Monika Maeckle bought a small property on the Llano River in Central Texas as an escape from fast-paced San Antonio. A journalist and marketing professional by trade, she didn't at first realize the value of the location on which she and her husband would later build their ranch. She also had no idea how this decision would eventually transform her life.One October evening a few years later, a friend invited Maeckle to their nearby house, which sat on a watershed with several large cypresses. All these butterflies dropped from the sky and started to gravitate toward the trees, she recalls. Stronger people who could swing a big 12-foot-long pole began trying to capture them, and we waited. By the end of the evening, we'd tagged a couple hundred butterflies, and I left there enchanted.
Oktober Feast!
While I respect your right to serve spooky food in October, you won't find any gory grub at my house this month. Instead, I'm hosting a gathering that's inspired by biergartens across the pond. The focus of the menu is a fondue made with Gruyère cheese and crisp Riesling-like beer-cheese dip but more elevated. It's served with a smorgasbord of dippers such as smoked sausage, grapes, apples, and a few amped-up store-bought snacks, like Mustard-Glazed Pretzel Bites and Smoked Paprika Potato Chips. (Just one taste, and you'll want to add this spice to every bag you open.) Pour yourself a Cider Shandy, and get ready for a good time. Prost, y'all!
The Roast With the Most
Embrace the changing seasons with a cozy pork supper
Roll With It
Company's coming? Bake a batch of these apple-stuffed delights
VIRGINIA PASTORAL
IN MIDDLEBURG, THE COMMONWEALTH'S MOST STORIED SMALL TOWN, OCTOBER WELCOMES A HOST OF TREASURED TRADITIONS
TAKING ROOT
Turn the season's freshest veggies-beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots-into colorful fall sides
THE FAMILY PLACE
When it came time for a young Georgia couple to make an 1800s farmhouse their own, they took it apart piece by piece-then rebuilt it into a home ready to welcome the next generation
Loving Life in Fayetteville
This Northwest Arkansas college town is easy to love and hard to leave
The Road That Raised Me
This lesser-known drive offers the most breathtaking views in the Smoky Mountains
