Hummingbird Rescue.....

 "..when you are convinced that all the exits are blocked, either you take to believing in miracles or you stand still like the hummingbird. The miracle is that the honey is always there, right under your nose, only you were too busy searching elsewhere to realize it. The worst is  being blind, blind to the fact that everything about life is in the nature of the miraculous."  Henry Miller

 A hummingbird was brought home yesterday. An Anna's Hummer....a female....I think. Doesn't have the red flashy throat of the male. But still has the iridescent feathers that shine like  jewels.

 Banged into a window at work, I was told. Then toted home in a box.

    Beautiful. Little thing. Beak like a sharp needle.

 Dazed. Not hurt. Nothing broken. No feathers out of place.Perfect in every way.

 She cheeped and trilled  in the hand. Feathers felt like silk, or cobwebs. Either way, something magical and wonderful, and humbling . So small. So sweet.

 She watched us like a hawk. With the  personality of a hawk, of course. Hummingbirds are fearless. They will take on birds  or even animals much bigger than they are.  She let us check her out. And she checked us out. She was okay with us.

 Flop. Flop. Flop. She tried to fly. Her little claws clung like a vice to hands, fingers, anything stable.She liked Dale's hands the best. My daughter was ever so careful with the little hummer.

 "A flash of harmless lightning, A mist of rainbow dyes, The burnished sunbeams brightening From flower to flower he flies."    John B. Tabb

 I called MARS. Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society. Based out of Merville,B.C. On Vancouver Island, other side of Courtenay. They were incredibly helpful.  So friendly. Very knowledgeable and positive.  Their ideas were a great help. 

 Our little friend, as big as half an index finger, sat on fingers a lot. For hours.

 MARS said most hummingbirds get so dazed when they hit a window, that it can take up to two days for them to recuperate. They would take her the following day, if she didn't fly away. If she could survive the night.We would take her to Campbell River Vet Hospital in the morning.......

 So we fed her sugar water, on the ends of a finger. And she let us stroke her feathers.

 We showed her to Bunny. Safely behind a glass door. No Bunny. No flying snack for you.

 "I always loved those little creatures [hummingbird], always feel blessed when they appear nearby. There's a magical quality to them. I finally put one in a song." 
   Leonard Cohen

 We sat with the little hummer for quite a long time. But she didn't want to fly.She  cheeped. Then trilled. More sugar water. Glug Glug Glug.....her tongue, darting in out felt like fluttering eyelashes. So light, like a whisper.

  Made me realize she was a wild thing. Not a tame thing.

 Overnight, I placed her back in her box with a dish of sugar water. Left part of the top open, but taped the flaps shut. Then placed a plastic milk crate over top , weighted down by a flat pot of flowers. No neighbourhood cat, raccoon or dog could get in. And as long as she didn't peep or cheep, they shouldn't know she was in there.I begged her not to make a sound.....left her on the covered porch where it would be dry and protected.

 In the wee hours of the morning, just at dawn, I found Spencer dozing on his own flower pot . Right beside the crate. He never noticed. HE just yawned.

We took little hummer to Campbell River Vet Hospital at edge of town. These amazing professionals work with  MARS, accepting injured  birds. Little hummingbird wowed people at the Vet. She  even pooped in the box. Everyone went AWWWW.  We tipped the dish of sugar water so she could get a good drink. 

Once handed over to MARS  they said she could be rehabilitated. Most likely just needed some peace and quiet, away from cats. A Spa day or two for hummingbirds. She would make a full recovery and live to fly  and dart and whrr and peep and cheep  till her little heart would be full. Hurray to the people who make it their life's work to save injured and orphaned creatures. 

 "Most elegantly finished in all parts, [the hummingbird] is a miniature work of our Great Parent, who seems to have formed it the smallest, and at the same time the most beautiful of the winged species."    J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur

With great thanks to Campbell River Vet Hospital and Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society.....