Monday, June 1, 2015

Taking Flight

Yesterday our lone baby hummingbird secretly left the nest. After a week or more of feeding by his mother, he kept preening his feathers and trying his wings until suddenly we looked and he was gone. His mother bird returned and found her job was over. How interesting nature is, no preparation other than instinct will guide this new bird into how to sleep on a tree and find food in flowers. See my video of last year's twin hummingbirds and their mother.

Looking out at the waiting world, wondering where mom is... 
Trying out those strange wings, soon the bird lifts off.
The nest is empty, gone for this year-available-FOR RENT!
Now to clean up the bird droppings underneath and on the patio...

THE NEST
by Lin Floyd

building the nest
the tiny hummingbird
hovers, carefully placing
twig by twig, leaf by leaf
feather by feather
into a comfy place
for her little ones

instinct guides her
and her helpful mate
to know how to build
then care for the babies
who will hatch
from eggs protected
and watched over

I remember
holding my newborn son
hovering over him
as he grew to try
his wings, then flew
away from home
and nest without
a backward glance.


6 comments:

  1. Lin, lovely story and photos of the fledgling hummingbird. I've never seen one grow up in a nest that close.

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  2. Beautiful poem to accompany your lovely baby bird photos.

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  3. What a wonderful post for Nature Notes Lin... I hope people will watch the video because you can really see the feeding so clearly. So cute and they are so tiny. Thank you so much for sharing this post... Michelle

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  4. This is great moment to witness! Lovely photos and your words are very fitting.

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