RON HENGGELER |
April 23, 2006
The miracle of life
This morning I was outside pulling weeds around the base of the tower in the
front yard. A hummingbird buzzed by above me and landed rather precariously
on a gold ornament hanging on the west side of the tower. Two other
hummingbirds quickly appeared, danced in the air a bit, and then dashed and
vanished. A large black raven streaked in a low curve through the air to the
north near the tower, sailed up high above the neighbor's Norfolk Pine, and
disappeared in the same direction as the two hummingbirds. It seemed that
perhaps it was chasing them. All of this happened in seconds.
The first hummingbird I'd seen remained perched on the golden ornament. It
appeared to be having a hard time. The feathers were disheveled and it
didn't seem to what to move. Perhaps the raven had attacked it. I sat down
on the front steps of the house watching the tiny creature. I've seem many
hummingbirds over the years, but I've never seen one remain stationary for
so long. Occasionally it would stick out its long tongue(like black sewing
thread) or open its beak in a wide yawn. Several times it lifted its wings
and then let them fall. Several times it pooped. Fifteen minutes passed. I
decided the beautiful little thing must be terribly wounded. Suddenly, from
out of nowhere, another hummingbird appeared next to this hummingbird. In
that instant I realized that my wounded bird was actually a chick. This
parent had come back with food and was now transferring it into the baby's
open beak. The unsteadiness, the ruffled coat, the look of fear that I'd
imagined was all because I was witnessing a baby hummingbird fresh from the
nest. It was feeling its wings for the fist time. I went inside the house,
ran upstairs and got my camera, and came back down. The parent was gone
again but the baby was still there where I'd left him. I shot off several of
photos of this chick. The parent never came back. Or, and probably, it was
close by watching me, watching out for the baby...waiting for me to leave.
Here's one of the photos of the baby hummingbird. |
In the attic with over 600 jars. |
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