Friends of Fray Paco

Thought you may enjoy this. . . .

This lady lives in a Hummingbird fly zone. As they migrated, about 20 of them were in her yard. She took the little red dish, filled it with sugar water and this is the result.

The Woman is Abagail Alfano of Pine, Louisiana - she has been studying them daily and one morning put the cup from the feeder, with water in it, in her hand; as they had gotten used to her standing by the feeder they came over to her hand. She says in touching they are as light as a feather.

The hummingbirds sipping sugared water on Abigail’s palm are a sight to behold. I don’t want to initiate a series of polemics; sugar is one of the worst poisons to assail all living creatures on this planet.

Honey is another matter. That is the only substance to use.

In Villa Luz, Casa del Monte and Santol Mansion, hummingbirds and canaries flew into the gardens only when they knew that the Big Bad White Fray Paco was inside and could not tear them apart limb to limb.

Dona Esperanza (main character of book 4 of the Fray Paco Series) had hanging baskets of fuchsias with a circumference of sixty centimeters. Hummingbirds loved to sip its silky liquid even as they seemed to turn on their axis so swiftly that you could barely see them.

The species in the Asian tropics dazzled you not only with their acrobatics but also with their colors. Fuchsia seemed to be their predominant color, which led me to believe that it was camouflage against its predators.

The canaries and parakeets safely ensconced in their bamboo cages often bore the brunt of Fray Paco’s cattiness.

‘’Hey you colored pieces of nothing, learn to sing on key.”

One canary in particular was the subject of Fray Paco’s vexation. His name was Ling-Ling. His melodious name did not match his often-sour personality. As a singer, Ling Ling was unimaginative at best.

“Stupido Canario Ling Ling. You sing trapos – rags. All you do is trill and tweet. No melody. Useless.”

The sight of Abigail and the hummingbirds on her palm is wondrous because they are very shy and skittish creatures.