Friday, March 23, 2007

A Little Bit of Heaven

The other day, well, the other day in mother-speak which means it could have been up to 2 weeks ago, I had read that the hummingbirds were back from the migration away. I have always thought hummingbirds were the rare breed you never did get to see to much of because they move too quickly and well, I just never saw them no matter how much I tried to attract them with sweet nectar filled feeders on the front porch.
Here in our new home I have a big beautiful picture window at the kitchen sink...big. It's one of my favorite things about washing dishes is I get to look out over our beautiful front yard with not a street in sight. Our little deck runs along the whole front of the house and in front of that there is a hedge of flowering currant. Currently it is covered in beautiful bright pink blooms (you'll see below). In the last couple of days I've seen fleeting glimpses of a hummingbird, but.....last night!!!! I got a little bit of heaven in my own front yard!!! I stood and washed dinner dishes and after I awhile I noticed not one hummingbird coming to drink at the currant flowers but up at one point there were up to FIVE!! They danced around and drank and darted and fleeted and then they'd rest!! on the tree directly in front of the hedge. Yes, rested on the branch! Most of the time there were 2 or 3 and this went on for 30 + minutes. As soon as I was done with the dishes I braved the possibility of scaring them and grabbed my camera and headed to the porch. It was dusk and they move VERY quickly so I didn't know if I'd be able to get any shots but I tried. At first no flash so I wouldn't scare them but I didn't get much but blur. So I used the flash. The first picture below is without flash, hence the blur but I LOVE it because if you look closely you'll see the blur of the hummingbird moving up the picture. The other two are with flash, one the hummingbird is resting and the other it is drinking. I couldn't believe it. I was in awe standing out there on the porch. Charissa joined me and we felt so blessed as these little creatures darted about, sometimes just inches from us and they'd stop and hover just in front of us looking and then dart away. They make an incredible humming noise akin to a large bumblebee but louder.
I truly felt like I was in heaven.



3 comments:

grammafaithie said...

OH SUE, that is so cool- can't wait to get there - now you have to get a feeder so you can HOPEFULLY keep them all summer long!

Mimi said...

Is that a mom thing thinking something just happened and it was two years ago?

Anyway, my MIL feeds hummingbirds, I've watched them at her house - they are so fascinating. Enjoy.

Bluecanopy said...

what a treat while washing dishes :) i love the lightness of the bird against the darkness of the sky in the second photo...very cool. and currants....yum.