Jaci Dawn

Not “Hummer” like the car, but “hummer” as in “hummingbird”.

Don & I were eating out in the yard (!!!!) tonight(!!!!!) (That deserves a lot of exclamation points because until today we have had an ark-full of rain and cold. But today it got to 79.9 degrees (F) in our backyard and we could actually sit out and eat.)

I kept hearing a very sharp CHIRP! It was so loud that even Donald (who cannot hear most high-pitched sounds) could hear it.

Then we noticed the bright red (irridescent metallic red) of a hummingbird on the wire from our house to the telephone pole.

And the hummer kept flying from the wire to a neighbor’s tree. Back and forth. We tried not to stare too much, thinking he was hesitating to use the hummingbird feeder on the back porch because we were sitting there (although I have never known for that to give hummingbirds pause).

Then we’d hear that loud CHIRP! Hummingbirds make that noise when they are courting. They fly straight up into the air and dive suddenly and the wind through their wings makes that CHIRP! when they suddenly pull back up.

I looked over my shoulder and just happened to see her.

She was not eight feet from me, just resting on the little fence and enjoying the courtship ritual of the male Anna’s Hummingbird as he flitted back and forth and did his dive-bomb CHIRP!

I hurried into the house to get the camera while Don distracted Murphy (we didn’t want Murphy to see her). I got two photos of her before the pair got spooked and flew off.

Pretty cool. 🙂