Henrietta Hummingbird

Today marked the first day I've had both the weather and the time to sit on the patio with a book, so out I shuffled in my comfies, dragging a book, lunch, some tea, and a blanket (it's not cold, but I like to wrap up) for some good, hard, relaxin'. I ran this morning, spent a good hour running around the kitchen prepping food for the week, and I was ready to dig into my book and enjoy Mom's gorgeous garden.

I had been out there a little while when a hummingbird started buzzing around the patio area, which isn't unheard of in our yard--there's a feeder hanging from the patio cover, and Mom's flowers are very attractive to all manner of pollen-eating creatures. I was enjoying my book and idly looking up from time to time, when suddenly, the bird in question landed on top of one of the wind chimes and settled in.

Wait, what?

Sure enough, under her feathered bottom was a tiny nest, and she perched on it, perfectly still, gently swaying in the breeze with the wind chime.

I had to investigate.

Of course, I don't want to disturb her or make her feel threatened, so I walked around in a big arc to keep a respectful distance. My eyes were not deceiving me. She is, indeed, a nesting hummingbird, and she has chosen a wind chime in our back yard as her place to hatch her eggs.

Without dragging a ladder out, there's no good way of knowing if she's already laid eggs--it does appear she's still building, as she would sit for a while, then fly away and return with materials in her mouth every once in a while. But mostly she rests up there, sitting very still and not seeming to mind the big, lumbering human on the patio furniture about ten feet away.

I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures using the zoom lens.

I love hummingbirds, and I'm fascinated by this nest. No doubt I'll be poking out there every day or two to see what she's up to--but of course I won't get too close. I really do want to leave her be. In the meantime, I'm referring to her as Henrietta, and I looked up enough information to know that female hummingbirds take on all nesting duties, so, while Dad and I were thinking we might have Henrietta and Humbert, it turns out Humbert is off doing his own thing.

Isn't she marvelous?