Sunday, June 14, 2015

By Hand

When they say we can feed them, we have no idea what to expect. We just follow the arrows that say, "Hummingbirds." 

Ash leads the way. With a sudden buzz to his head, it all began. One turns to many. We stand out in the open, our feet lodged in disbelief. As these miniature birds whiz back and forth, we stare. To them, to each other, and back at them. 

Tentatively at first (so as not to get struck by a beeline) we walk to a woman who hands us each a feeder. One, two, and sometimes up to five hummingbirds zoom in and fight each other for a single serving...from our hand

As I carefully swivel my guy, the years flash. Filling and hanging feeder after feeder. Stealing as many glances throughout the summer, and then, making sure to take those feeders down by Labor Day so as not to affect their migration. And now, I'm essentially holding one, two, four of these highly sought after creatures at a time.

As I drink him in, all has fallen away. He's highly expressive. Often times feisty, especially with his eyes. His tongue is surprisingly longer than the length of his beak! His colors are vibrant, but as they reach his tail feathers, fade to black. If another even thinks about jacking his sugar, he'll throw the wicked stare.

He's got me. I'm under his spell. I never want to leave. How can I? I might miss a flutter, a fight for food, another visit from the rare one of the bunch? 

What to do? 

The rainforest isn't a dangerous place to sleep at night, is it?
      



The stare down.




My nephew took some video in slow motion. If you turn your sound up you can hear them. 




Yes, I'm in a trance.

These particular hummingbirds are really big. They're deep purple and black with white tail feathers underneath. They're gorgeous as they fly away.

They were the shyest of the bunch. They'd sit in the trees and only come down every so often. 




My nephew was taking pictures of himself with the hummingbirds on his shoulder. I thought it a great idea. So when my dad saw me doing this...




He kicked it up a notch. Why not have one coming out my head! 

The one on top of my head was the rarest of the bunch. We only saw this one that day. Feeding them was the best part of our trip. We couldn't resist and went back another day.

We never saw another like this again.




Compared to the others, this variety has a bent beak. 




We were all holding our feeders how the woman showed us, which was by the bottom part. My dad decided to hold his like this. It was really neat because the hummingbirds would sometimes walk, or stand on our hands. There's nothing quite like the feeling of their tiny claws.




As you can see, when it's feeding time, the green ones mean business. 








Can you see the guy above? I think he's looking at the camera?












Until next time...because we have to go back to see them again.

❤️

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