It was only 20 days from the first tiny hummingbird emerging from its egg to Saturday, March 23 when the pair tried their new wings and took to the air.Just two days before flying the youngsters were still in the nest.
Allen's hummingbirds 3/03/07 when they hatched, first week, second week.
I’ve watched this transformation from minute oval egg to flying wonder before, but it never ceases to amaze me.
The young ones are buzzing about the yard. They are noticeable by their clumsy landings, their lingering at the feeder, and the fact that their mother still allows them to share a perch near her. By next week they will be hard to distinguish from the other hummers.
Empty Nest
From blueberry-sized pearls
Hatched, naked
Blind, earth babies
Wrinkled brown skin
Scarce tufts of down
Silently they huddled in
Half walnut-shell bower
Waiting for mother's
Blossom-kissed tongue
In a breath of days
Stubby beaks
Grew long and slender
Silken-thread tongues tasting
Leaves and branches
Rubbery appendages transformed
To pulsating wings
Hovering, in first baby-step flight
Then a dip, a dive
A streak across the garden
How quickly life can
Form before your eyes
Lull you into complacency
Leave you hungry for its miracle
When the nest is empty
Copyright Keri Dearborn 2001
1 comment:
Thank you so very much for sharing the pictures of these little ones and their story!
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