The next morning, day two, this little ball of ruffled feathers was sitting on the deck floor, hmmm, this is not good, Lou the cat will certainly interfere with nature, so I picked up this little girl and put her on the edge of a flower pot, in the shade. I thought about offering some nectar but I was on my way to town and really didn't have time.
When I got back from town I headed straight for the flower pot and she was gone. Not knowing what happened to her, I started on a huge guilt trip. I should have done more to secure her safety. ,
Day 3, I'm having coffee on the lower patio, located directly under the deck Harriet was first rescued from. I went in for a second cup, came out and was thinking what a beautiful day. I'd been feeding Kirby the chipmunk corn and sunflower seeds when I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a ball of feathers sitting on two very tiny little feet on the pavers. Oh my gosh, it was Harriet! Yes, I know I name everything.
I scooped her up, ran up the hill to the deck and yelled for Linda. I wasn't sure what to do, but I had to do something. Harriet was so weak, she didn't have the strength to fly. Linda grabbed a box and a feeder, a small cup and a toothpick. The feeder was just because we thought Harriet might know what it was for.
We put some leaves, pine needles and a branch in the box. I dipped the toothpick in the nectar and offered it to Harriet and she licked it clean. Oh great I thought, now I need a straw, I knew that was the only thing handy.
Harriet sucked that up like crazy, we did this every so often, hoping she would get hydrated enough to take off on her own. There wasn't a lid on the box, Harriet was free to fly away anytime she wanted to. The little bird was looking better and better.
A few hours had passed and we saw another very young hummer sitting on the feeder. We then realized that Harriet had probably lost her way back to her nest.
Henry sat on the feeder in the wrong place for a long time, then "slowly" flew to another feeder around another side of the house. As you can see the feathers are not completely matured. Henry was just getting his wings to work.
I decided to move Harriet's box over by the main feeders so she could see and hear all the other humming birds. There are literally dozens of hummingbirds here. I watched for a while, hoping Harriet would fly up to the feeder, but no luck. I decided then to put her on the feeder, she hopped on my finger, I slowly raised her up and much to my delight, she took off for a big pine tree. Whoohoo, Harriet must have gotten enough juice in her to give her the energy she needed to fly.
A happy ending for a great day!
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