Recently we had our four-year-old granddaughter staying and playing at the Arbor House Inn B&B. She tends to romp around picking flowers and playing with Elmo, the resident cat on property. One evening, she knelt down next to one of the trees and pointed. This is what she had discovered, a Promethea silkmoth as large as an iPhone. Having never seen one before, we researched and Googled to discover that they are actually an east coast insect. This poor little guy had been blown way off course! We don’t know where he was trying to go but we sure hope he gets there.
Arbor House Inn Humming Birds – South Fork, Colorado
Meet the Hummers – The Bad Boys of Summer.
Every year there is a herd of humming birds that comes to town and takes over the bed & breakfast. One of the reasons we love being here in this area is the South Fork wildlife and its unpredictability. You never know exactly what you’re going to get. Except with the hummers. We know what to expect when they roll into the B&B.
Photo Credit: Ashography
The first of the humming birds tend to arrive in late April or the beginning of May. Typically it’s just one or two scouts that start hanging around as they wait for the humming bird feeders to be hung and become available. When we see them trickle in we’ll hang the red feeders on the dining room windows and lovingly announce to the B&B guests that “the bar’s open.” It’s not uncommon to get up to two dozen hummers flying around in the evening.
Usually around the first week in July the Rufous humming birds arrive and they tend to make things quite lively around here. Rufous hummers are the bullies of the humming bird world and they guard the feeders and tend to dive bomb those who get too close to their watering hole. These aggressive little cuties have orangey-red chests and are feisty like their coloring.
View from the deck at the Arbor House Inn
We like to cater to our winged guests and have two feeders on the windows overlooking the deck onto the river which allow our B&B guests to enjoy them from the dining room through the oversize picture windows at breakfast. These need to be filled several times a day due to our thirsty flyers. We just added the Cottage on the Creek vacation rental next door, and yes, it too has a humming bird feeder on the deck overlooking the river for guests to enjoy.
One of the regular guests that come every year makes us laugh as she sets up her own humming bird feeder on the balcony of room #2, Chloe’s Corner. She brings the feeder in her suitcase, sits on the balcony and likes to have her very own hummer show while she’s here.
Photo Credit: Ashography
The hummers are quite entertaining and can be enjoyed while having a glass of wine on the back deck or while sitting on the benches by the river at the arbor. We look forward to their arrival every year and we hope you enjoy them too.
PEACEFUL LODGING IN THE SPLENDOR OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 
