30 January 2008

Save the Hummer

Some years ago, a hummingbird flew into a glassed warehouse at work unseen by whoever closed the overhead door. We speculate that she was searching for spider's web, to line her tiny nest under construction somewhere nearby.
Under a summer sun and without circulating air, the closed space warmed rapidly. Increasingly frantic, the small bird flew from window to window searching for a way out. Unable to get nectar to replace lost fluids and failing energy, within hours the hummer collapsed on the floor, where the next person into the warehouse spotted it, apparently dead. Of course, they called MLH, the bluebird lady (see earlier posts), to save the hummer.
Cradling it in her hand, she carried the comatose and limp lady to our hummingbird feeder and shoved her bill into the sugar water. At first, no response. Then, a flicker of tongue suggested life. Next, the bedraggled bird's eyes popped open and the tongue eagerly probed the surrogate nectar. As she fed, she became alert, and then wary. Within minutes she tanked up, decided that duty calls, and hummed away. One hummer, saved; another feather in MLH's hat.

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