Watching TV

Several years ago I planted a trumpet vine seedling. There are times when I regret having done so, because this plant likes to take over the world. It propagates by sending its roots out in all directions and popping up another vine 15 or 20 feet away, that will grab onto any available structure and proceed to bury it under a profusion of greenery. For the rest of my life I will be hacking back trumpet vine, lest, like kudzu, it smothers every plant around.

If this vine possessed only this troublesome behavior, I would long ago have declared war and eradicated it—much as I succeeded in doing with poison ivy a few decades ago. But the trumpet vine has an endearing quality at this time of year: it blasts forth with the most gorgeous blossoms that attract hummingbirds and big ol' bumblebees.

Over the last couple of weeks I've had the pleasure of soaking in my outdoor tub and becoming fascinated by the beauty of the plant, while watching the antics of visiting hummingbirds. Unable to receive a TV signal out here in the woods—moreover unwilling to have it intrude into our peace and quiet—I instead get much enjoyment watching my hummers dip into trumpet vine (TV) blossoms. I watch my own kind of TV.

The blossoms of TV are aptly named. They are long and narrow, with the ends flared outward. Bright orange, they are “loud and brassy” against the TV lush greenery. The hummingbird's long, skinny bill and even longer tongue are perfect for sampling the nectar hidden deep within the blossom. I love to watch a hummer hover near a bloom, dip quickly into it as its head completely disappears inside, and then quickly pop back out. While its head is buried deep in the blossom, it is vulnerable to predators, so it doesn't stay in for long. A few quick dips and it moves on. Of course, the hummer is doing a good deed for the TV, as it gets its head coated with pollen, that it then spreads to other blooms. The hummingbird is participating in TV sex!

I watched a fascinating display put on by two hummers the other evening. My attention was drawn by the sound of one hummingbird strafing the top of the TV several times—zooming at high speed across the vine. I soon realized that it was the resident male seemingly threatening a female, who I saw dipping into TV blossoms. She kept snuggled down into the vine, to avoid his attacks—which were like the bombing runs of a fighter plane.

Why was the male acting so aggressively? I think it might be that the mating season is over, so the male need not attract the female, like he did back in June, when his aerial acrobatics were more like a frenetic dance, done in front of her, as he worked hard to dazzle her and hopefully mate.

Now she seems to be just another competitor for trumpet vine blossom nectar. I think he's being far too selfish. With all the rain we've had this year, the vine has an abundance of blooms. Why be so stingy? Whatever his motivation—and I don't claim to understand it at all—I do very much enjoy watching my kind of TV lately.