Baja St. Martin

I have two Dollar Store hummingbird feeders outside my window and for many years I have seen, at most, two of the little birds at one feeder. This morning there are about a dozen of the little guys flitting about, drinking from both feeders. It’s amazing! I’m wondering if they’re making up for time lost when it rained every day. They are darting about, sitting on nearby branches for a moment before heading back to a feeder. Sometimes all four of the little drinking spouts has a beak stuck in it. I’m not very expert at recognizing hummingbirds, but they appear to all be the ones with green feathers and at least some have red around their necks. That’s the ruby throated species I think.
If that wasn’t enough to see, I heard a whistling outside and when I went on the porch there were three bald eagles soaring and circling over the water. One actually dropped and hit the water with a splash but I couldn’t tell if he actually caught anything. They all swooped around and then disappeared.
The spillway water level has fallen a little bit but is still over the launch ramps at the landing. Belle River is over my seawall but not by much. I have not heard much of anything about crawfishing. It still continues but I don’t think anyone is going to call this a great season.
My sisters tell me the temperatures in Michigan are in the 50s, but pretty chilly (almost freezing) at night. Brrrrrr!
My baby sister has recently adopted a Great Pyrenees rescue dog who is just the sweetest thing, but big! She has just invested in an invisible fence for her entire one-acre yard so the dog can run loose without always being on a leash. It seemed to working perfectly until two little stray dogs ran through the yard and Cisco took off after them. Candy said she found her dog about three yards away and now, of course, she’s lost a bit of faith in the fence.
I have had an electronic fence around my yard for many years and I think only once did a dog ignore the tiny electric shock it gives if exceeded. She leaped over the perimeter, raced across the road to chase someone on a four-wheeler and then couldn’t figure out how to get back. I’m pretty sure she knew what she’d done, and thankfully, the FAS tanker trucks weren’t passing in those days so she didn’t get hurt.
Some friends just down the road (on Hwy. 997) walked and drove slowly by last week, calling “Sam! Sam!” I asked what had happened and they said they had not realized one of their little dogs hadn’t returned to their house after doing its business. I felt so bad because I’ve had the same thing happen. This story had a happy ending, however. I stopped at their house to check and they kind of sheepishly told me when they finally gave up hunting for the dog outdoors they came inside and there began to hear a sort of strange noise – not a bark, even – when they called. Turns out the dog had come inside when he was supposed to but for some reason had squeezed behind a stove and somehow got trapped in the wall.
I’m looking forward to meeting Cole Delhomme tomorrow for the Rabies Clinic. Michele Brignac at the St. Martin Animal Shelter told me Cole was a female which was nice to know but certainly not critical. I hope lots of people show up. Will let you know. We, the Recreation District, now have a sign outside the Belle River site so we can post events for the public to see. The current sign is temporary but we’ve got a permanent one on order.

Teche News’ Lower St. Martin correspondent, Linda Cooke, can be emailed at lindacooke1939@gmail.com.