I agree that they are amazing creatures. We have them as summer garden guests all summer at our home in Ontario, Canada.
We’ve had them caught in our garage before and once even in my van! I panick any time they get caught and have to be rescued.
What an amazing experience you had with yours though. Perhaps you should start hanging up hummingbird feeders, they are good entertainment!
Another thing to consider is if you get a shallow bowl of their food (sugar water) and sit long and patient enough, you can train the hummingbirds to perch on your cupped hand and drink from the bowl.
I have always wanted to try but my toddler who loves the “hummers” wouldn’t be able to sit and be patient with me long enough. :)
Take care!
Suzanne July 25th, 2011 @ 7:29 am
Wow! What a story. Amazing pictures. Thanks fo rsharing!
Once I too was gifted with holding a hummingbird. I was watching them fight over the flowers in my garden when one was knocked down into some ground vines and was trapped upside down. I reached in and picked it out to free it.
The life of it was like holding the universe in my hand.
Nina July 25th, 2011 @ 7:34 am
I am LOVING your getaway this summer. It feels like the most amazing vacation ever for me and I haven’t left the office.
Marg July 25th, 2011 @ 7:44 am
You’ve just had a glimpse of what it is like to be Mother Nature when she’s in one of her gentle moods! Those are the precious moments of life that give it that ‘special’ quality.
That’s amazing! I love reading your handwritten notes. It makes sharing your experiences even more precious.
Linda in TX July 25th, 2011 @ 7:55 am
I have held three – two that my cat had cornered and one that was trapped at a window like yours. They become so exhausted by their desperation to save themselves (particularly from a cat!) that you are able to pick them up. I felt the same way you did – how fantastic to feel that tiny heart beating in my hand – I don’t think I ever held anything that gently. All birds lived – the two the cat had were put into a big pot high above catability and rested till they flew away. Joyous experiences! (and I, too, love your hand written ‘letters’ to us!)
Oh my goodness, how beautiful. And what a lovely telling of the story, too. Thank you.
Btw, you have gorgeous handwriting. It’s hardly a hardship to have to read your blog posts this way.
Nathalie July 25th, 2011 @ 8:10 am
Thanks for making me smile this drag Monday morning. I put a tupperware over spiders and slide a lid over the top, then drop them over the balcony into my loud neighbors bushes :-)
Deanna July 25th, 2011 @ 8:17 am
What a beautiful account of your hummingbird story. And pictures too. You are too good to us, but we’ll take it! Thanks so much.
pam July 25th, 2011 @ 8:18 am
such a treat you had!! Such an exciting adventure!! I’m surprised that the bird actually flew into the camper in the first place. thank you for all your writings.
Deanna July 25th, 2011 @ 8:19 am
Hummingbird food is 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. But they can be sitting ducks for kitty cats.
Sandy July 25th, 2011 @ 8:46 am
What a wonderful experience. Several years ago while living in Hawaii I had a very close encounter with a whale and her baby who was trying to play with our catamarran, momma gently came between the tarps and lifted the entire craft up, swam between it and set us down gently. Have so many pics from that but even without them it is a moment in my life that was absolutely incredible to say I touched a whale!
Janey July 25th, 2011 @ 8:47 am
I was hoping there would be more about the hummingbird. Wow! Immeasurably more! Thank you for sharing this with us–and for rescuing the little jewel.
Steph in Oregon July 25th, 2011 @ 8:59 am
The mountains of Wyoming are full of surprises. A hummingbird,then a rattlesnake. What contrast.
These posts are really nice, Shreve.
Barbara R July 25th, 2011 @ 9:27 am
Beautiful account of a thrilling moment. (I have a wide mouth jar in each room of my cabin for the same reason. :)
Jenny C July 25th, 2011 @ 9:30 am
Ooohhh… just ooohhh…
Teared up.
kay July 25th, 2011 @ 9:32 am
Maybe the little hummer flew into your camper thinking the brightly decorated interior was a huge flower. Yippee for the little guy that you were able to rescue it, and that it gifted you with a moment of such close connection.
When I am able to rescue or aid wildlife, it makes ME feel rescued.
erynn July 25th, 2011 @ 9:50 am
So SO incredible.
Alan July 25th, 2011 @ 10:01 am
Just last week I was at a B&B with several hummingbird feeders. The owner told a story of rescuing one from his garage, and then for the rest of the summer, and the next three years, that hummer would follow him around the yard and buzz his windows whenever the feeder needed filling.
Beverly July 25th, 2011 @ 10:09 am
wonderful.
I am going to try to remember, whenever life gets overwhelming and I’m freaking out, that if I calm down and rest for a moment, and trust, someone might just pick me up and put me where I’m supposed to be.
Hummingbirds are such perfect, fragile little creatures.
I just adore your posts from the mountain. Perhaps I should work on my own handwriting.
EBFirelight July 25th, 2011 @ 11:17 am
For all you spider rescuers out there, I have been using a butterfly net for years. If you barely touch it to the spider, it will drop right in and just go to the bottom of the net and wait until you shake it upside down outside to release it. The long handle on the net allows you to keep a further distance than the jar technique, and that is a good thing to me.
Kim in Ola July 25th, 2011 @ 11:20 am
There’s a guy that comes up to Ola and bands hummers. it’s a fascinating process and the information that is recorded is very valuable. A month ago I helped band 50 new arrivals and 9 returns from previous years. No hummers have ever been hurt during this process.
Miranda July 25th, 2011 @ 11:25 am
Vacationed at a resort in the mountains once. The small cabin where you scheduled raft trips was always open. I heard thump-thump-thump and saw a hummer trying to get out the glass window instead of the open door. It knocked itself out so I picked it up in the palm of my hand. It was like picking up a cotton ball it weighed so little! I cupped my other hand over it and carried it outside and held it for 2-3 min. It woke up and sat in my hand and I took away my cupped hand and it looked at me for a second then flew off to be with the dozens of others who lived around the resort. There were six hummer feeders so they were constantly buzzing around and dive bombing each other. Amazing and beautiful little creatures.
JoDi July 25th, 2011 @ 11:44 am
What a lovely encounter! And I just want to add that I am enjoying the handwritten posts. Reading your beautiful handwriting is a nice respite from the typewritten word.
MJ July 25th, 2011 @ 11:51 am
I have been amazed and pleased, when occasionally a hummer lands on my hand while I am hanging up one of their feeders. It will sit on my hand and drink from the feeder! Equally amazing are the times they fly up and look me in the eye, hovering in front of my face and then zip off. I wonder what they see and feel when they do that. I always speak softly to them and try to be a calm and quiet as possible, letting them decide how long the encounter will last. So glad you were able to rescue your little jewel, Shreve. I too, love the handwritten notes.
bonnie July 25th, 2011 @ 11:55 am
so glad the cats weren’t there to notice the visiter.
hummingbirds are attracted to anything colored red. if your door or a window was open, it probably thot it had found a giant flower!
What a gift! I have such a fascination with hummingbirds and this is such a precious story. Much better (warmer, more emotionally connected) in your handwriting than typed.
wright1 July 25th, 2011 @ 12:56 pm
“a moment containing a million moments” Sigh, indeed. Little touches of Eden, as I think of them.
Felt the same way when I encountered dolphins while surfing, almost twenty years ago: wanting so much for those seconds to last forever. And at the same time, realizing that their value is that they don’t…
@ Carmen (Mena): “delicate green galaxy”… wonderful!
When I was little, an old woman who was taking care of me told me that she’d once tried to catch a humming bird when she was a girl. She said the bird had just riddled her hand with pecking, so I assumed that’s what they’d all do. How nice to get another take – and not just from your lovely experience, but from others’ as well. It makes me rethink humming birds, which I’ve always admired from a distance.
ky in tucson July 25th, 2011 @ 4:18 pm
Lovely experience! Some people think our desert is a harsh environment, but I’ve planted flowering bushes that attract hummers and I have several fountains with moving water for all the birds. I’ve never put out seed or hummer food, but I have a continuing bird show in my yard and the hummers are my favorite.
Love the handwritten posts too!
Pat D. July 25th, 2011 @ 4:28 pm
When I was a child, the flowers outside my bedroom window attracted hummingbirds. I was always fascinated by how invisible their wings were and how they hovered in mid-air. Great little birds.
I just finished your book-WONDERFUL.
I’m new to your blog and twitter.
Your blog is like reading another on-going book.
It makes my day.
Your writing and photos are excellent, and I love you , Charlie and all the animals.
Growing up in Nevada, I can relate and love the wild, desert country. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing.
I saw my father do this once. The difference was the hummingbird was caught in a screen by its beak. He cupped it in his hand and lowered it for me to see. It looked calmly at me with black ink dot eyes. It didn’t appear scared. I still treasure that moment. Me, I’ve only ever rescued a trapped squirrel from an empty city dumpster. How? First I tried a stick and when that didn’t work I lowered my body into it and allowed the creature to CLIMB ME to get out.
Lesley July 25th, 2011 @ 4:33 pm
I teared up reading this.
Who needs Harry Potter when you can experience magic like this!
Lesley July 25th, 2011 @ 4:34 pm
By the way, I really love your handwritten blog entries. You have beautiful writing.
Dawn July 25th, 2011 @ 4:48 pm
Simply Devine…
Rose July 25th, 2011 @ 5:29 pm
It’s good to know that we are not the only people that put spiders outside into nextdoor’s yard, instead of killing them. We use a plastic peanut butter jar and a piece of cardboard, or Webster works when they are high. Black Widows are the only ones that don’t survive when they try to move in.
Glad you have good handwriting, much better than mine!
I think you may attract more hummingbirds with all the color inside your trailer! Maybe Mike could go buy you some feeders for outside!
Alice July 25th, 2011 @ 6:03 pm
Absolutely amazing experience! I am loving your vacation on the mountain. And like many others, I am really enjoying the handwritten notes. It almost feels like you are writing a letter to ME.
TomT July 25th, 2011 @ 6:19 pm
Very cool experience. I like the handwritten notes to us also. It’s kinda old school.
Brynne July 25th, 2011 @ 6:46 pm
Your beautiful handwriting makes reading your posts all the more lovely and whimsical. I hope you keep doing it this way.
I also had a hummingbird encounter. A few years ago on a very hot spell in central Ohio I saw a baby hummingbird sitting on our picnic table and panting like he was really out of breath. I got our feeder and put fresh hummingbird juice in it. I took the feeder to the baby. It did not seem to know what to do, so I took a tiny stick and tried to get it to stand on the stick. To my amasement it did. I then put the stick with the tiny bird on it up to the feeder. It stu stuck out its tiny string of a tonge and stuck it in the feeder and drank. I let it do that for a while and then put my finger under its feet and it stepped onto my finger. I let it keep drinking until it gots it fill. I then watched it fly back up into the tree. I was fortunate to get a picture of it sitting on my finger. What a fabulous experience!
Tricia July 25th, 2011 @ 9:31 pm
WOW. I thought I knew envy when I learned how much Charlie loves you. (Sorry for the negative “envy” but my vocabulary kinda sucks). But to actually hold a hummingbird, which I think are really fairies in disguise, well, all I can say is WOW. There is video on You-Tube of folks having hummers light on their fingers & I’m equally jealous of them! I’m sure your bright gypsy colors drew him/her into your summer home. So awesome there was a safe release.
I want to come set up feeders & watch them all day!
<3
tm
Lila July 25th, 2011 @ 9:37 pm
Your wonderful report rehabilitated my dreadful Monday. Thank you!
Hummingbirds are incredible little beings! What a great post and so happy you had a moment to catch a few pics! I am sure he/she? was drawn into your lovely camper by the assortment of colors.
Thanks for your enlightening posts. They are keeping me sane while working my way through grad school.
Cheers,
JumpUp
Katbalu July 26th, 2011 @ 4:28 am
That definitely was a spiritual moment!
GD July 26th, 2011 @ 4:37 am
When I lived in Arizona, one was on my doorstep, battered by the mosoon. I held him in my hand and helped him dry off. They have always been my favorite bird. To me, this tiniest of all tiny birds is the most majestic! Now that I am in Florida, I have Bottle Brush trees in my yard which hummers LOVE. Whilst doing yard work, at first I thought it was bumble bees buzzing by, but when I looked up, one was hovering right in my face. It is now a frequent occurrence. Makes my day everytime!
Jackie July 26th, 2011 @ 7:36 am
Awesome! Thanks…you made my day!
Marg July 26th, 2011 @ 7:37 am
The yin and the yang! Shoot a snake/rescue a hummingbird.
I don’t think feeders are a healthy thing for the birds unless you are willing to clean and change them every day. Plant their favorite flowers instead.
Renee July 26th, 2011 @ 8:32 am
The same happened to me when a hummingbird actually allowed me to rescue him from one of the rafters in our garage–I assumed he was just too worn out to resist…but, maybe not…
Nanci July 26th, 2011 @ 9:08 am
Hummers are the most majestic bird of them all. They just seem like a miracle. How fast they are able to beat their wings is almost incomprehensible. I have had them fly in my face and give me a look too. I love it! So fearless for being so small. Like a spirit that is real…
LisaB July 26th, 2011 @ 9:12 am
That is amazing! Also – I love love love your photographed handwritten blog posts, they are very awesome.
happy July 26th, 2011 @ 9:46 am
Ive been silently reading your blog for more than two years now.Im in the corporate field for the last seven years- not quite sure if its what I want but Im in it simply because its the standard of success in our society and it makes me feel secure..I feel empty though. I visit your site often to find vicarious joy in what you do. Your courage in following your heart impresses and inspires me immensely. Ive never left a comment before, but Im so awed and grateful with what you have done now, going out of your way to jot down your posts so we are able to read it.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart- Happy (Philippines)
A beautiful story. The way you connect with animals, big & small… you are truly blessed.
Heather G July 26th, 2011 @ 9:28 pm
Beautiful.
mlaiuppa July 27th, 2011 @ 1:25 am
He trusted you with his tiny, delicate, beating heart in your hand. What a wonderful gift.
Three of my favorite hummingbird books:
Hummingbird Nest: A Journal of Poems, Kristine O’Connell George, Barry Moser
A Hummingbird in My House: The Story of Squeak,
Arnette Heidcamp
First Flight: A Mother Hummingbird’s Story,
Don Carroll, Noriko Carroll
ishamay July 27th, 2011 @ 5:58 am
Yay. :)
I’m so glad you made a proper post about this.
I think that humming birds live outside of time. Thus the million moments within one.
Lori Casanova July 27th, 2011 @ 6:56 am
This made me cry with joy!
Gertrud Stockton July 27th, 2011 @ 7:16 am
So impressed. Your patience and respect of the world around you, your handwriting, and your photography, are only a few of the things that make you so special. There is one fluttering heart that would love to hear from you. Love, Grandma
Jenny C July 27th, 2011 @ 7:18 pm
Shreve, not only are your photos and narratives inspiring, and a breath of fresh air, you also provide a forum for all of these delightful posts.
I LOVE hummingbirds and can always hear them before I see them – lovely sound. Once, as I sat on a rock in the mtns., a hummingbird stopped in front of my face and just stared at me for the longest time. It was a profound moment – all of that incredible motion and energy hovering perfectly still. Miraculous.
My other favorite bird is the exquisite Cedar Waxwing. Had one fly down out of nowhere and land on my hand, where it was content to perch for quite some time. Took my breath away.
Sandy (#17) – If I had the experience you did, I’d think I’d died and gone to heaven. Seeing whales at sea has been one of the highlights of my life.
Alan (#24) – wonderful story!
Autumn (#44) – what a lovely thing to do, letting the squirrel use you as a human ladder.
Ms. Stockton (#72) – how proud you must be!
Deborah July 27th, 2011 @ 9:06 pm
Lovely story! You really have a deep connection with the animal kingdom. And, I must say, you have beautiful handwriting!
Amy July 28th, 2011 @ 6:18 pm
I love the phrase “a moment containing a million moments”. We should all live life in such a way to recognize these things…..
Beautiful!
shyra July 30th, 2011 @ 7:24 pm
Hi Shreve,
Sometimes I roll my eyes at how much of a hippie you are, but actually I love writing things by hand (all my college notes and more!) and this reminded me of my handwritten journal that I have not touched a pen to in about 2 years. I think I will write in it tonight. :)
I felt such an intense leap of joy in my heart when you described holding such tiny treasure. I am reminded that the amerindians say that hummingbird is the guide of joy :)
Back when I had a garden, I remember being excited by the hummingbird moths that came to visit each year. They looked very similar to hummingbirds till you got close and they were more like hummingbird-like tiny lobsters. Then one year a pair of actual hummingbirds came to nest in the tree by my house. They were amazing, so full of energy and life. I never saw them rest till once day one of them sat down on a branch. She looked odd with a big rounded belly, till I realized she was round with an egg that she was going to lay very soon. I had not realized that a pregnant hummingbird would look as awkward as I did when I was pregnant. I felt a shared bond :)
Lizzie L August 1st, 2011 @ 3:55 am
Your words are poetry. What an incredible, beautiful experience that you will undoubtedly hold dear for the rest of your life!
It is truly the little things…I love the idea of a “moment containing a million moments”…I know that feeling. How blessed to have that opportunity! How wondrous :3
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:17 am
Wow! What a gift from the gods.
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:27 am
I agree that they are amazing creatures. We have them as summer garden guests all summer at our home in Ontario, Canada.
We’ve had them caught in our garage before and once even in my van! I panick any time they get caught and have to be rescued.
What an amazing experience you had with yours though. Perhaps you should start hanging up hummingbird feeders, they are good entertainment!
Another thing to consider is if you get a shallow bowl of their food (sugar water) and sit long and patient enough, you can train the hummingbirds to perch on your cupped hand and drink from the bowl.
I have always wanted to try but my toddler who loves the “hummers” wouldn’t be able to sit and be patient with me long enough. :)
Take care!
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:29 am
Wow! What a story. Amazing pictures. Thanks fo rsharing!
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:34 am
truly awesome. thanks for the chills you gave me!
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:34 am
Once I too was gifted with holding a hummingbird. I was watching them fight over the flowers in my garden when one was knocked down into some ground vines and was trapped upside down. I reached in and picked it out to free it.
The life of it was like holding the universe in my hand.
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:34 am
I am LOVING your getaway this summer. It feels like the most amazing vacation ever for me and I haven’t left the office.
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:44 am
You’ve just had a glimpse of what it is like to be Mother Nature when she’s in one of her gentle moods! Those are the precious moments of life that give it that ‘special’ quality.
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:47 am
This is one of my very favorite posts of yours, ever, and I’ve been following you for a long time. Just beautiful.
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:48 am
What an absolutely amazing experience! I am constantly in awe of your connection to animals.
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:51 am
That’s amazing! I love reading your handwritten notes. It makes sharing your experiences even more precious.
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:55 am
I have held three – two that my cat had cornered and one that was trapped at a window like yours. They become so exhausted by their desperation to save themselves (particularly from a cat!) that you are able to pick them up. I felt the same way you did – how fantastic to feel that tiny heart beating in my hand – I don’t think I ever held anything that gently. All birds lived – the two the cat had were put into a big pot high above catability and rested till they flew away. Joyous experiences! (and I, too, love your hand written ‘letters’ to us!)
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:58 am
Oh my goodness, how beautiful. And what a lovely telling of the story, too. Thank you.
Btw, you have gorgeous handwriting. It’s hardly a hardship to have to read your blog posts this way.
July 25th, 2011 @ 8:10 am
Thanks for making me smile this drag Monday morning. I put a tupperware over spiders and slide a lid over the top, then drop them over the balcony into my loud neighbors bushes :-)
July 25th, 2011 @ 8:17 am
What a beautiful account of your hummingbird story. And pictures too. You are too good to us, but we’ll take it! Thanks so much.
July 25th, 2011 @ 8:18 am
such a treat you had!! Such an exciting adventure!! I’m surprised that the bird actually flew into the camper in the first place. thank you for all your writings.
July 25th, 2011 @ 8:19 am
Hummingbird food is 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. But they can be sitting ducks for kitty cats.
July 25th, 2011 @ 8:46 am
What a wonderful experience. Several years ago while living in Hawaii I had a very close encounter with a whale and her baby who was trying to play with our catamarran, momma gently came between the tarps and lifted the entire craft up, swam between it and set us down gently. Have so many pics from that but even without them it is a moment in my life that was absolutely incredible to say I touched a whale!
July 25th, 2011 @ 8:47 am
I was hoping there would be more about the hummingbird. Wow! Immeasurably more! Thank you for sharing this with us–and for rescuing the little jewel.
July 25th, 2011 @ 8:59 am
The mountains of Wyoming are full of surprises. A hummingbird,then a rattlesnake. What contrast.
These posts are really nice, Shreve.
July 25th, 2011 @ 9:27 am
Beautiful account of a thrilling moment. (I have a wide mouth jar in each room of my cabin for the same reason. :)
July 25th, 2011 @ 9:30 am
Ooohhh… just ooohhh…
Teared up.
July 25th, 2011 @ 9:32 am
Maybe the little hummer flew into your camper thinking the brightly decorated interior was a huge flower. Yippee for the little guy that you were able to rescue it, and that it gifted you with a moment of such close connection.
When I am able to rescue or aid wildlife, it makes ME feel rescued.
July 25th, 2011 @ 9:50 am
So SO incredible.
July 25th, 2011 @ 10:01 am
Just last week I was at a B&B with several hummingbird feeders. The owner told a story of rescuing one from his garage, and then for the rest of the summer, and the next three years, that hummer would follow him around the yard and buzz his windows whenever the feeder needed filling.
July 25th, 2011 @ 10:09 am
wonderful.
I am going to try to remember, whenever life gets overwhelming and I’m freaking out, that if I calm down and rest for a moment, and trust, someone might just pick me up and put me where I’m supposed to be.
July 25th, 2011 @ 10:23 am
goosebumps! your life is magnificent.
July 25th, 2011 @ 10:31 am
Holy crimony. Beautiful. I once had a similar experience with a baby cardinal, but…a hummingbird…awesome.
July 25th, 2011 @ 10:53 am
Hummers are high energy with high body temps to match. That’s why they linger in your hand. They can get used to it and come back for more.
July 25th, 2011 @ 11:01 am
Hummingbirds are such perfect, fragile little creatures.
I just adore your posts from the mountain. Perhaps I should work on my own handwriting.
July 25th, 2011 @ 11:17 am
For all you spider rescuers out there, I have been using a butterfly net for years. If you barely touch it to the spider, it will drop right in and just go to the bottom of the net and wait until you shake it upside down outside to release it. The long handle on the net allows you to keep a further distance than the jar technique, and that is a good thing to me.
July 25th, 2011 @ 11:20 am
There’s a guy that comes up to Ola and bands hummers. it’s a fascinating process and the information that is recorded is very valuable. A month ago I helped band 50 new arrivals and 9 returns from previous years. No hummers have ever been hurt during this process.
July 25th, 2011 @ 11:25 am
Vacationed at a resort in the mountains once. The small cabin where you scheduled raft trips was always open. I heard thump-thump-thump and saw a hummer trying to get out the glass window instead of the open door. It knocked itself out so I picked it up in the palm of my hand. It was like picking up a cotton ball it weighed so little! I cupped my other hand over it and carried it outside and held it for 2-3 min. It woke up and sat in my hand and I took away my cupped hand and it looked at me for a second then flew off to be with the dozens of others who lived around the resort. There were six hummer feeders so they were constantly buzzing around and dive bombing each other. Amazing and beautiful little creatures.
July 25th, 2011 @ 11:44 am
What a lovely encounter! And I just want to add that I am enjoying the handwritten posts. Reading your beautiful handwriting is a nice respite from the typewritten word.
July 25th, 2011 @ 11:51 am
I have been amazed and pleased, when occasionally a hummer lands on my hand while I am hanging up one of their feeders. It will sit on my hand and drink from the feeder! Equally amazing are the times they fly up and look me in the eye, hovering in front of my face and then zip off. I wonder what they see and feel when they do that. I always speak softly to them and try to be a calm and quiet as possible, letting them decide how long the encounter will last. So glad you were able to rescue your little jewel, Shreve. I too, love the handwritten notes.
July 25th, 2011 @ 11:55 am
so glad the cats weren’t there to notice the visiter.
hummingbirds are attracted to anything colored red. if your door or a window was open, it probably thot it had found a giant flower!
July 25th, 2011 @ 11:58 am
This must have been amazing… Oh Shreve, you truly are one in a billion. :)
I held a 7 inch long praying mantis once. Not the same, I suppose, but I was floored nonetheless by the small, delicate green galaxy in my palm.
July 25th, 2011 @ 12:51 pm
What a gift! I have such a fascination with hummingbirds and this is such a precious story. Much better (warmer, more emotionally connected) in your handwriting than typed.
July 25th, 2011 @ 12:56 pm
“a moment containing a million moments” Sigh, indeed. Little touches of Eden, as I think of them.
Felt the same way when I encountered dolphins while surfing, almost twenty years ago: wanting so much for those seconds to last forever. And at the same time, realizing that their value is that they don’t…
@ Carmen (Mena): “delicate green galaxy”… wonderful!
July 25th, 2011 @ 1:22 pm
You are lucky! Beauty in hand.
July 25th, 2011 @ 2:47 pm
When I was little, an old woman who was taking care of me told me that she’d once tried to catch a humming bird when she was a girl. She said the bird had just riddled her hand with pecking, so I assumed that’s what they’d all do. How nice to get another take – and not just from your lovely experience, but from others’ as well. It makes me rethink humming birds, which I’ve always admired from a distance.
July 25th, 2011 @ 4:18 pm
Lovely experience! Some people think our desert is a harsh environment, but I’ve planted flowering bushes that attract hummers and I have several fountains with moving water for all the birds. I’ve never put out seed or hummer food, but I have a continuing bird show in my yard and the hummers are my favorite.
Love the handwritten posts too!
July 25th, 2011 @ 4:28 pm
When I was a child, the flowers outside my bedroom window attracted hummingbirds. I was always fascinated by how invisible their wings were and how they hovered in mid-air. Great little birds.
July 25th, 2011 @ 4:29 pm
I just finished your book-WONDERFUL.
I’m new to your blog and twitter.
Your blog is like reading another on-going book.
It makes my day.
Your writing and photos are excellent, and I love you , Charlie and all the animals.
Growing up in Nevada, I can relate and love the wild, desert country. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing.
July 25th, 2011 @ 4:29 pm
I saw my father do this once. The difference was the hummingbird was caught in a screen by its beak. He cupped it in his hand and lowered it for me to see. It looked calmly at me with black ink dot eyes. It didn’t appear scared. I still treasure that moment. Me, I’ve only ever rescued a trapped squirrel from an empty city dumpster. How? First I tried a stick and when that didn’t work I lowered my body into it and allowed the creature to CLIMB ME to get out.
July 25th, 2011 @ 4:33 pm
I teared up reading this.
Who needs Harry Potter when you can experience magic like this!
July 25th, 2011 @ 4:34 pm
By the way, I really love your handwritten blog entries. You have beautiful writing.
July 25th, 2011 @ 4:48 pm
Simply Devine…
July 25th, 2011 @ 5:29 pm
It’s good to know that we are not the only people that put spiders outside into nextdoor’s yard, instead of killing them. We use a plastic peanut butter jar and a piece of cardboard, or Webster works when they are high. Black Widows are the only ones that don’t survive when they try to move in.
Glad you have good handwriting, much better than mine!
I think you may attract more hummingbirds with all the color inside your trailer! Maybe Mike could go buy you some feeders for outside!
July 25th, 2011 @ 6:03 pm
Absolutely amazing experience! I am loving your vacation on the mountain. And like many others, I am really enjoying the handwritten notes. It almost feels like you are writing a letter to ME.
July 25th, 2011 @ 6:19 pm
Very cool experience. I like the handwritten notes to us also. It’s kinda old school.
July 25th, 2011 @ 6:46 pm
Your beautiful handwriting makes reading your posts all the more lovely and whimsical. I hope you keep doing it this way.
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:18 pm
I used to do songbird rescues in downtown Toronto (http://eclecta.blogspot.com/2007/05/diary-of-neophyte-flap-volunteer.html). It’s magic, holding a live wild bird.
July 25th, 2011 @ 8:57 pm
I also had a hummingbird encounter. A few years ago on a very hot spell in central Ohio I saw a baby hummingbird sitting on our picnic table and panting like he was really out of breath. I got our feeder and put fresh hummingbird juice in it. I took the feeder to the baby. It did not seem to know what to do, so I took a tiny stick and tried to get it to stand on the stick. To my amasement it did. I then put the stick with the tiny bird on it up to the feeder. It stu stuck out its tiny string of a tonge and stuck it in the feeder and drank. I let it do that for a while and then put my finger under its feet and it stepped onto my finger. I let it keep drinking until it gots it fill. I then watched it fly back up into the tree. I was fortunate to get a picture of it sitting on my finger. What a fabulous experience!
July 25th, 2011 @ 9:31 pm
WOW. I thought I knew envy when I learned how much Charlie loves you. (Sorry for the negative “envy” but my vocabulary kinda sucks). But to actually hold a hummingbird, which I think are really fairies in disguise, well, all I can say is WOW. There is video on You-Tube of folks having hummers light on their fingers & I’m equally jealous of them! I’m sure your bright gypsy colors drew him/her into your summer home. So awesome there was a safe release.
I want to come set up feeders & watch them all day!
<3
tm
July 25th, 2011 @ 9:37 pm
Your wonderful report rehabilitated my dreadful Monday. Thank you!
July 25th, 2011 @ 9:46 pm
The universe loves you, Shreve.
July 25th, 2011 @ 11:07 pm
Hummingbirds are incredible little beings! What a great post and so happy you had a moment to catch a few pics! I am sure he/she? was drawn into your lovely camper by the assortment of colors.
Thanks for your enlightening posts. They are keeping me sane while working my way through grad school.
Cheers,
JumpUp
July 26th, 2011 @ 4:28 am
That definitely was a spiritual moment!
July 26th, 2011 @ 4:37 am
When I lived in Arizona, one was on my doorstep, battered by the mosoon. I held him in my hand and helped him dry off. They have always been my favorite bird. To me, this tiniest of all tiny birds is the most majestic! Now that I am in Florida, I have Bottle Brush trees in my yard which hummers LOVE. Whilst doing yard work, at first I thought it was bumble bees buzzing by, but when I looked up, one was hovering right in my face. It is now a frequent occurrence. Makes my day everytime!
July 26th, 2011 @ 7:36 am
Awesome! Thanks…you made my day!
July 26th, 2011 @ 7:37 am
The yin and the yang! Shoot a snake/rescue a hummingbird.
I don’t think feeders are a healthy thing for the birds unless you are willing to clean and change them every day. Plant their favorite flowers instead.
July 26th, 2011 @ 8:32 am
The same happened to me when a hummingbird actually allowed me to rescue him from one of the rafters in our garage–I assumed he was just too worn out to resist…but, maybe not…
July 26th, 2011 @ 9:08 am
Hummers are the most majestic bird of them all. They just seem like a miracle. How fast they are able to beat their wings is almost incomprehensible. I have had them fly in my face and give me a look too. I love it! So fearless for being so small. Like a spirit that is real…
July 26th, 2011 @ 9:12 am
That is amazing! Also – I love love love your photographed handwritten blog posts, they are very awesome.
July 26th, 2011 @ 9:46 am
Ive been silently reading your blog for more than two years now.Im in the corporate field for the last seven years- not quite sure if its what I want but Im in it simply because its the standard of success in our society and it makes me feel secure..I feel empty though. I visit your site often to find vicarious joy in what you do. Your courage in following your heart impresses and inspires me immensely. Ive never left a comment before, but Im so awed and grateful with what you have done now, going out of your way to jot down your posts so we are able to read it.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart- Happy (Philippines)
July 26th, 2011 @ 10:44 am
This entry took my breath away!
July 26th, 2011 @ 11:33 am
A beautiful story. The way you connect with animals, big & small… you are truly blessed.
July 26th, 2011 @ 9:28 pm
Beautiful.
July 27th, 2011 @ 1:25 am
He trusted you with his tiny, delicate, beating heart in your hand. What a wonderful gift.
Three of my favorite hummingbird books:
Hummingbird Nest: A Journal of Poems, Kristine O’Connell George, Barry Moser
A Hummingbird in My House: The Story of Squeak,
Arnette Heidcamp
First Flight: A Mother Hummingbird’s Story,
Don Carroll, Noriko Carroll
July 27th, 2011 @ 5:58 am
Yay. :)
I’m so glad you made a proper post about this.
I think that humming birds live outside of time. Thus the million moments within one.
July 27th, 2011 @ 6:56 am
This made me cry with joy!
July 27th, 2011 @ 7:16 am
So impressed. Your patience and respect of the world around you, your handwriting, and your photography, are only a few of the things that make you so special. There is one fluttering heart that would love to hear from you. Love, Grandma
July 27th, 2011 @ 7:18 pm
Shreve, not only are your photos and narratives inspiring, and a breath of fresh air, you also provide a forum for all of these delightful posts.
I LOVE hummingbirds and can always hear them before I see them – lovely sound. Once, as I sat on a rock in the mtns., a hummingbird stopped in front of my face and just stared at me for the longest time. It was a profound moment – all of that incredible motion and energy hovering perfectly still. Miraculous.
My other favorite bird is the exquisite Cedar Waxwing. Had one fly down out of nowhere and land on my hand, where it was content to perch for quite some time. Took my breath away.
Sandy (#17) – If I had the experience you did, I’d think I’d died and gone to heaven. Seeing whales at sea has been one of the highlights of my life.
Alan (#24) – wonderful story!
Autumn (#44) – what a lovely thing to do, letting the squirrel use you as a human ladder.
Ms. Stockton (#72) – how proud you must be!
July 27th, 2011 @ 9:06 pm
Lovely story! You really have a deep connection with the animal kingdom. And, I must say, you have beautiful handwriting!
July 28th, 2011 @ 6:18 pm
I love the phrase “a moment containing a million moments”. We should all live life in such a way to recognize these things…..
Beautiful!
July 30th, 2011 @ 7:24 pm
Hi Shreve,
Sometimes I roll my eyes at how much of a hippie you are, but actually I love writing things by hand (all my college notes and more!) and this reminded me of my handwritten journal that I have not touched a pen to in about 2 years. I think I will write in it tonight. :)
July 30th, 2011 @ 8:56 pm
magical!
July 31st, 2011 @ 1:47 pm
I felt such an intense leap of joy in my heart when you described holding such tiny treasure. I am reminded that the amerindians say that hummingbird is the guide of joy :)
Back when I had a garden, I remember being excited by the hummingbird moths that came to visit each year. They looked very similar to hummingbirds till you got close and they were more like hummingbird-like tiny lobsters. Then one year a pair of actual hummingbirds came to nest in the tree by my house. They were amazing, so full of energy and life. I never saw them rest till once day one of them sat down on a branch. She looked odd with a big rounded belly, till I realized she was round with an egg that she was going to lay very soon. I had not realized that a pregnant hummingbird would look as awkward as I did when I was pregnant. I felt a shared bond :)
August 1st, 2011 @ 3:55 am
Your words are poetry. What an incredible, beautiful experience that you will undoubtedly hold dear for the rest of your life!
August 2nd, 2011 @ 12:59 pm
It is truly the little things…I love the idea of a “moment containing a million moments”…I know that feeling. How blessed to have that opportunity! How wondrous :3