When we got home from our trip, we were so stoked to find a little hummingbird's nest in our backyard with 2 teeny tiny little baby hummingbirds!! They must have hatched while we were gone because they looked a week or 2 old. It was so much fun over the span of a week to watch them grow, watch Mom feed them, and then watch them learn to fly! We had a big scare when one of them promptly hit the dirt and stayed on the ground for a while. I was so scared and was googling like crazy to figure out what to do. Funny little tidbit I learned? Hummingbirds are the only birds who do not reject a baby after a human has handled it because they cannot smell their babies (?) so the advice from wildlife rescue sites was to actually lift up the bird and replace it back in the nest! So, after a few hours of watching the situation nervously (yah, give me a break, I don't have much going on in my life right now :) I nervously approached, talking gently to the little guy. But, so funny, as I reached out to lift him up (all the while wondering how light and fragile he was going to be and thinking how hilariously and scarily HUGE I must be coming towards him), he lifted off like a drunken little bumble bee and zig-zaggedly flew away into a nearby tree!! I was so proud I could have cried!! Over the next few days, the babies hung out in that tree, and Mom would still come feed them (why yes, in case you're wondering, I would go outside frequently to check on their status, hahaha!) They would be in different branches frequently and I'd often see them haphazardly flying around like the birdie version of Bambie learning to walk for the first time, it was so precious. But today? Today I went rushing out to the tree all excited to see my babies, and they're gone! WAAAAAHHHHHH!!! I know it was only a matter of time, but my babies are all grown up! And yes, I realize this officially seals the deal that I'm an old crazy lady claiming ownership to hummingbird babies, but deal with it.
Anyhoo - here's a montage of the good times while we had 'em. I hope they remember us and send us a postcard now and then.
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