Tag Archives: rufous hummingbird

Say Hello To My Little Friend

Posted by Sandi

Yesterday we had the thrill of spotting our first hummingbird nest of the season. It was about 15’ off the ground in the lower limb of a fir tree in our yard. We could see two beaks peaking out, and the nest was bulging so we knew they’d be fledging soon. I could hardly wait to check on them when I woke this morning.

Little Angel - a bit ruffled and not fully feathered

Sure enough, the peeps were gone. I spotted one on the fence being fed by mom, then saw him fly around quite well. But baby #2 was still up in the tree, near the nest. She looked a little wobbly so I decided to keep watch. It was a long way down, and we were in Murphy territory (Murphy is our giant Leonberger).

My heart skipped a beat when I saw baby #2 lose her balance in slow motion and feebly flap her wings to a soft landing below, a few feet from snoozing Murphy. At that moment I named her ‘Angel’ and called for Bob to banish Murph from the yard.

I reminded myself that fledglings are supposed to fledge (this I learned a few summers back after returning babies to the nest when I didn’t feel they were ready!)  Fine, but here was this tiny vulnerable creature in the middle of our path. I gently scooped her up and relocated her a safe place below the nest tree. Soon after, mom found and fed her. Ahh.

Little Bobby - a rufous hummingbird - ready for his first flight

What a wonderful Sunday it was, hanging out with my binochs, checking on Angel all day. It reminded me of my first summer here, when we watched ‘Little Bobby’ grow from a helpless raisin to a flying daredevil. Angel doesn’t appear to have all her feathers yet; I hope she fills in and makes it off the ground soon. Stay tuned!

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