It's Graduation Day at the my house.
Baby hummingbirds are taking their first flights this morning... awww!
I did
take some pictures this weekend of the babies because they were getting too
big for their nest. I knew their time to investigate the wider world was
not far away. Today was that day.
So I went out and all the babies were gone from
their nest. As I stood around the gazebo, the last of the babies buzzed up to
me. She wanted to show me she got her wings. I put my hand up for her to
land and she decided to go another direction...
which she smacked into my six foot fence wall.
She bounced a few more
times until she hit the ground. Irene, my outdoor cat, pounced on that stroke of good
luck and proceeded to get the baby in her mouth... but Irene listens to
me. I kept repeating NO! until my cat released the baby bird. It must have been quite the mental struggle for Irene to let go of such a tasty treat, but she did.
Even Ivanka, my indoor calico who gets a free pass to the outdoors a few times a week, wanted
to capture the baby hummingbird. It was such a scene of me yelling and running around to save that baby bird from two feisty felines. In the end, I was victorious.
I gathered that little bird into my
hand and made sure she wasn't bleeding anywhere. Then I moved my wrought iron loveseat
so I could bring down the planter with the nest in it to my level. I placed the
baby back in the nest and hung the planter back up so mother hummingbird could take a look for herself...
Boy, was
she concerned. I think more that I touched her baby then about the cats. Anyway, the baby is good, being refueled by mom, and encouraged to take
another flight. I am staying inside as to not create another incident. The baby's wings got tired too easily when confronted with a challenge.
I'll just watch from my glass security door... but those first few
seconds of "look human what I can do!" was priceless and to make me
apart of their Graduation Day was sweet of them.
See what happens when you help out your fellow creatures? You get rewarded in ways that are too emotional for words. I hope tomorrow is a better day for the baby hummingbirds and that they spend a few more nights in their nest.
Sometimes saying good-bye is such sweet sorrow.