Magic Hummingbird Moment

By Pam Cordts, Livingston, Wisconsin

I awoke one Sunday with a severe leg cramp. Though my husband was nice enough to let me skip my barn chores, I was determined that, pain or no pain, I'd get out and feed my birds. Good thing I did, too.

Hobbling past my flower bed, I noticed a juvenile hummingbird watching me. Since it didn't seem inclined to leave, I went to get my camera.

Totally unafraid of me, or maybe just too busy in the hosta blooms, the bird didn't seem to mind that I was only a foot or two away. What fun I had, watching this fascinating flier and recording its movements!

I wondered if the bird was just learning to fly, since it seemed to be having some trouble with the wind. As the hummingbird prepared to take off, it would tumble backward and cling tight to the flower until it caught its balance. Then the scene would start all over again.

Enthralled, I spent most of the morning snapping away on my digital camera. At one point, I even saw a female hummer in mid-flight, and then watched her feed the juvenile.

The photos I took that morning were some of the best I'd ever taken. I quickly printed off a few mementos of the morning, and then took this one (below) to my local photo center to have it enlarged.

Coincidentally, I'd just redecorated the bedroom in a hummingbird theme. The framed photo completed it perfectly.

Two days after our first meeting, I couldn't get within 4 feet of my little friend, who was by now flying with no trouble whatsoever. But the portrait gives me a smile every morning.

It reminds me that, no matter how painfully a day may begin, we never know what magic it may hold.