Thursday, September 02, 2010

Hummingbirds and Puffer Fish

I was sitting on my front porch yesterday -- where else? -- when a hummingbird flew up to the hanging plant about three feet away from me. The plant has some purple, bell-shaped flowers along the bottom.
The tiny jewel-green bird, only the length of my finger, explored each purple bloom, circling the plant in hopes of finding more nectar. I felt a little ashamed of the meager blossoms that it had to choose from.
This picture is from http://www.hummingbirdsbymaureen.com/images/07-20-06_Hummingbirds0048r.JPG
As the bird hovers in the air, its wings look like netting. They seem impossibly small to whiz the bird through the air. A hummingbird doesn't even move the way other birds do, as if its body is totally detached from the process of flying and the wings must do all the work. It zooms here then there. The thing it most reminds me of is a puffer fish with its big blue eyes and tiny fins.
This picture is from http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c158/snorris73/puffer_fish.jpgBefore we were married, and even after we were married for awhile, we had a saltwater aquarium. One of the fish we loved was the slow-moving puffer fish. One day while we were gone to work, the cover came off the filter that sucks in water. The puffer fish got caught in the current and was sucked to the pipe. Luckily, he used his natural instinct to puff up so he wouldn't get sucked into the pipe. He was never the same again.
I was telling Earl about the hummingbird encounter this morning and he said the bird needs to head around back where there are plenty of flowers still blooming.
I guess I'll make a sign directing all hummingbirds to the backyard. Does anyone know how to write hummingbird language?

2 comments:

Lucia said...

no they like sugar water!!!put some out there for them

Linda said...

I've never seen a hummingbird here. I wonder if Europe has them?

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