During the summer months, we often keep our office door open to cool the space.  Invariably, a bird will fly into the office several times during the summer.

 

Many years ago, we had our first hummingbird fly in.  I was not present, but Eric caught the bird and put it out.  To know Eric is to understand that Eric played football for Brown University, and his reactions are still pretty fast.  Hummingbirds can fly at 30+ miles per hour, and are quite agile in changing directions.  All the more impressive that Eric caught it.  Then I learned the truth about hummingbirds.

 

Yesterday, I caught my third hummingbird in our office (two this month already).  Interestingly, when they get tired of trying to fly through one of the windows, they will perch on an office bookshelf and rest.  I carefully put my hand over top of him, and gently closed it to encompass the bird.  Then I carried it outside and put it in one of Joanne’s hanging flower baskets (to keep it safe from our cats).  The bird appeared to play dead, and when I opened my hand, it remained in my palm.  Though it kept its eyes closed during this process, it periodically opened them for a brief instant to see what was going on.

 

I gently dropped him into the flower basket, and then watched to see if he was okay.  After a few minutes, he revived and flew away, apparently unharmed by the incident.  If you’ve never looked at a hummingbird close-up, you’re missing a beautiful bird.  Try my approach.  Others will be impressed with your lightning-fast reactions, but you’ll know the truth.

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