Hummingbird Morning Miracle

LOL! Twincol. Keep 'em coming, and I'll let Mom have the final say, okay? She does enjoy the pictures.
WIB,
SW

So do I! Those are fantastic shots----you're channeling your dad, girl!

SW, not to be outdone, girl . . . reading the Sunday paper I heard a flurry of wings and chirps, then a thud against the sliding glass door. I mean a thud!! No one moved so I could see s/he was ok so I got up and found a little finch hanging out against the wall on the deck. S/he moved away, one wing spread out as if broken or something. So, in order to keep her safe from the dogs I moved her into a little vintage cage I have and then put her in the bathroom (quiet) and covered the cage with a dark towel (dark) at the behest of a GF, who has many years working with avian wildlife rescue in town. My instructions were to keep her warm and quiet so as to mitigate shock symptoms.

DONE! An hour later I went in to see if she was moving about a bit, opened the door a tad to slide some seed in . . . and . . . and . . . she GOT OUT! EEEEeeeek! Thank goodness I had her in the bathroom. I finally caught her after 10-or-so minutes flying about. She was so tired I simply tossed a little hand towel over her and gently picked her up to take her outside. I left her on the ground below the finch sock then returned a bit later to lift the towel up and she was able to fly off.

Whew!!!

Pictures? I don't got no stupid pictures! I was too traumatized myself to get pictures LOL. But she's safe now, I hope.

Bless her little heart.

LInda

Lovely, and well done Linda. Maybe the next time the cage should go near the feeder! Covered with the towel of course. Good thing you had him in the bathroom. Thank you for sharing your story. I really liked hearing about it, and LOL when I thought of you trying to catch the little finch. Did this just happen today?
Photos, when both you and the bird are traumatized. If I didn't have so much experience I'd have been traumatized too! LOL, NOW! ^_^

This reminds me of a time when my DH and I were "scouting" bee locations. We were in the middle of no where, Cow Country CA.
Driving by some ranch land, I saw a bird hanging upside down on a barbed wire fence. I saw he was still moving. I asked DH to back up. We got out of the car, evaluated the situation. It was so sad.
The bird of prey had obviously been diving after some food and became entangled on the lowest strand of barb wire. He had been there so long trying to flap his wings to right himself (since he was upside down), that his shoulders (Top portion of the wing), had worn grooves into the soil under the fence. I wanted to cry for him.
Improvising with what we had on hand, I grabbed my Beach towel (I always carry one with me when I travel,) and my manicure scissors. I had DH cover the Bird with the towel, and hold him. The bird calmed down immediately once he was covered (Thanks Daddy!), then I looked at the situation up close, and the only way to free the bird was to cut him loose. I tried to minimize the damage, and in the end, only had to make one small cut to free him. Then I covered it with antibiotic ointment. (I travel with that too!)
I used to work for a vet, and my Dad and Barbara, taught me a lot about birds, so don't try this unless you have to. Call professionals, if you aren't out in the middle of nowhere.
Once he had been extracted from the barbed wire, I had my DH place him on the ground before he removed the towel. The bird looked dazed for a moment then shook himself and flew into the sky. He circled us four times, like he was thanking or blessing us, before heading to the nearby river/creek for a much needed drink. What a blessing that day was.
So how about names for our feathered friends? Any more ideas? (Not that I don't like Twincol's, but I did want to let Mom have a few to choose from).
I've taken to reading Mom the thread out loud, so that she feels a part of it. I always show her the photos before I post them. Makes it fun for her to hear the comments. She likes the stories too.
Well, I'd better get some of my chores done so I can try to get more photos of those hummers.
WIB,
SW

How 'bout Zippy and DooDa? Don't ask me where that came from.....I have an odd brain.

Nothing wrong with your brain. You actually do use it. You might be a little fey, but I like it. Good suggestions, and as I said, the more names to choose from, the better Mom will feel a part of life.
Thanks ima.
WIB,
SW

Oh my, SW, that was just this morning. Thank goodness I have a GF who has experience with rescue and injured avian wildness. And, having rescued my share of domestic finches flying about the house over the years, I knew to just wait it out and she'd get pretty tired out pretty fast, so all I'd have to do is capture her by towel. But wild birds in the house? Oh my, not sure I wanted to let her get out of the bathroom. After all, I was unable to keep her in the tiny cage, go figure!

Linda

Twincol,
I'd have used a pillow case, but that is just me. I hate it when their little claws get stuck in the towel threads. Happens all the time, especially during mating season. Good to have a friend you can ask questions. Also good that you listened. I'll bet your heart is still racing at the thought of the wild bird loose inside!
Same reason I didn't want the hummer in the house. The cats would have been thrilled but not the hummer, who was traumatized enough already!
Bought a new feeder to put out in front of the house. Should go fill it and see what turns up.
WIB,
SW

Do you all know the biggest attraction for hummers to garages? The red emergency handle for the garage door! It explained why we used to get hummers in the garage at our old house. The scary part was, we had a skylight and one of them went straight up and we had a devil of a time getting him out. Frightened birds don't like to fly DOWN. That's why so many people lose pet birds. If they get out and haven't been taught, many of them will sit in a tree and not be able to fly down even though they want to - they just keep going tree top to tree top.

Yeah, you're probably right, SW, a pillow case might have been safer. But she'd already gotten out of her/my cage. I wasn't about to risk taking my entire body through the bathroom door just to search out a pillow case, girl! The towel was actually a small and very find, light hand towel, so safe enuf, relatively speaking.

Then, with a cat around, I am well acquainted with what claws can do to fabrics, fine or otherwise, LOL. The bird's safety ws, of course, paramount. All things considered, all ended quite well. Thanks for validating my trauma ROFL.

big hugs,
Linda

Going up and not down is also a problem for cats who get out of their houses as well. That's why the fire department often gets calls for tree'd cats.

Of course! Not being a cat person, I wasn't thinking of that, but it's the same thing. Our youngest parrot kept flying up to the top of the kitchen cupboards and it took us the longest time to get her to fly back to her perch. Birds generally fly down slightly when they take off, so with practice I guess she learned she had enough room to get lift again to get her to the perch. She maneuvers remarkably well in our small house.

I have a cat that likes high places, but I've heard of them dying because they can't get out of a tree. Sad, but they need to be taught. Last time we had that problem, we placed a really long board at a diagonal to the ground. Took her another day to figure it out. We even sent another cat up to show her the way down.

Hummer update. I didn't have the chance to get many photos today, and it was kind of dark, well, you'll see.
The hummer was perched. I spotted him/her and was wondering why?

Yep, he's guarding the feeder and using the Wisteria (almost ready to bloom!) to perch on!

The only shot showing color.

Miss Peek-a-boo, was prowling around on the roof, and the Wisteria, and it made the hummer somewhat wary. Not worried, she can't catch the hummer. Will attempt to see if the new feeder in the front yard attracts any visitors tomorrow.
WIB,
SW

Great shots, Jules, so funny Peek-a boo!

The little girl is still around. They were feeding a lot this morning when I had a lot of things to take care of. I tried a couple of times to get better photos, but she was being coy. Clearest view of the day. Didn't see much of the male except when he went zooming by, he didn't come to the feeder while I was there, but I sure could hear him.
Got this shot near dusk. Sun behind the hill already. It was getting cold and cloudy for most of the afternoon.

Ah, the jailbird shot. See the gleam in her eye? She is actually perched on a piece of Wisteria. Check out how long her beak is too. Extends past that bar. Kinda cool.

After watching her perch unmoving for several minutes I crept forward, and using the telephoto (such as it is), got this photo which I then cropped so you could see her better.
I think she was napping and I woke her up.

HuH? What?

Oh, yeah, it's that person who keeps doing the flashy whir thing when I'm around. She flew off a short time later. It didn't seem to bother her much that I was there. Sure bothered the male. He buzzed at me all the way back to the house. Didn't see him, just heard him.

Oh, SW, these are SUCH cool pictures. You are so very clever, you sneaky little girl!

What fun you must be having.

Linda

Fun, hmmmm. More like an exercise in patience. I enjoy seeing how much it cheers up Mom, and I'm learning more about their behavior. Feisty little birds. Hope to get some better day shots, and this is a good time to try.
Any more candidates for names. Was planning on having Mom name them tonight. She's been having a bad day, and I think it will cheer her up.
WIB,
SW

The lady in my pottery class brought the babies again today. They've grown a lot and were real greedy guts when she feed them. Very fun to watch. They are moving on to another rehabber this week who has an aviary where they can practice flying. At least I know who to call if I find an orphan!

Was able to get out earlier today. You can actually see some color!
In this shot the hummer has her? back to me.

Is this a different girl?

I don't see the red spot on the throat. What's up? Doesn't mind me sitting close while she perches.

She's drinking. Look at how she is holding her feet!

The male makes an appearance.

Face shot!

"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille"!

He is watching me!

Is it my imagination or are two of his neck feathers sticking up?

LOL, ima!
We might have to come up with three names! Shortly after this last photo, the male chased the female off. I got cold and it got dark, so I quit while I was ahead, Ha ha!
I caught Mom looking at the bird book today! It's hard to identify a lot of the birds because they are so far away.
Hope you enjoyed today's photos.
WIB,
SW

Have you looked at this Cornell ID site? It's got sound tracks and everything---I love it. Helped me learn I didn't have chickadees (which I thought I was hearing, but never saw) but instead have Oak Titmouse. Too cute! Oh, and Bushtits---adorable (always thought they were some kinda finch...)
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/

That last shot of your hummer makes him look like he's wearing a snazzy little bow-tie!

Ima,
Yes it does. All duded out to impress the females I bet!
I'll have to try the cornell site with Mom. She went out back for a short time this afternoon. Says she likes to hear the birdies.
Some of those smaller birds I don't have a clue about. Males look different than the females. The young look different than adults. It ought to keep me busy for awhile. LOL!
WIB!
SW

Yes, their feathers stick out like that - it's like a little hood.

DH and I are a team. I find birds by sight or sound - he describes the pertinent features - I look them up. We used to go on walks in the lagoons and ID the birds. At home, they are around all the time, but move so fast and we don't have binocs hanging around our necks!

DH has better vision than I do. But he isn't good with colors. A new hobby we could share? At least good team work for you guys.
WIB,
SW

Today was so cold and dismal that I didn't want to go outside. But Lone Wolf, came over and I just had to show off the banana bearing fruit in the green house. Guess who we found when we got in the green house? It has 2 wings, 2 feet, and flies really fast.