I’m back to babble about our hummingbirds again. (In case you haven’t read my other two blog pieces on them, there are two baby hummingbirds outside our back door, and I’ve been obsessed with them since the moment I discovered the eggs four weeks ago.) I just can’t help it. I’ve been captivated by these birds because I’ve never before seen hummingbirds hatch and grow. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that the birds double in size in a matter of days, so the rate of change is very different from that of humans. That difference has me spellbound.
A few minutes ago I took this photo of the birds. There are two of them stuffed into the nest, and they barely fit. No wonder Mama has to make a nest that can expand. On their first day the birds looked like grey cotton balls with beaks. But now they look like mature hummingbirds, even though they are only thirteen days old. It’s incredible how much they have grown and changed since the first day I saw them. The birds are almost the size of the mama hummingbird now. (See photo from two blogs ago.) Wow.
According to what I read online about hummingbirds, at about three weeks old they will start testing their wings and will fly away. That’s in about a week. I’ll be sad not to see them anymore, not to be able to peek at our tiniest residents any time I want. But I’ll try to appreciate my brief time with them as a small present packed with gusto. My brief time with the birds is a lot like the hummingbird in flight. You have to watch closely and appreciate the experience for the second or two you see them, because in the next moment then they are off in a blur of color and energy, spinning through the sky toward the next flower.
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