Ornery

You can tell it's almost time for them to leave.

They're guarding and fighting almost all the time.

Why do they get all ornery* like that just when it's time to see them fly away

on their own? When the feeder empties this time, I think I'll store it away for the season and send them on to the Great Southern Beyond. 

There's a spot near our feeder where you can lay down on the cellar doors and watch

the hummingbird wars. It's pretty cool. At this time of year, they don't care a bit how close you 

get to the feeder, as long as you don't hold your finger over the opening.

*If you have time for nonsense, click the pronunciation for ornery found at the dictionary link. It's fun to hear the proper Dictionary Guy say that silly country word.