We had one of the most bizarre bird experiences this Sunday. It was of
course Father?s Day, and friends and family filled the kitchen, preparing
dinner, chatting, and we were even Skype-ing with our son?s fianc?e in
Alaska. Suddenly, Alpha Dad Bob looked out the window and started
sputtering, ?uh uh oh!? As each person in the kitchen saw what he was
pointing at, pandemonium ensued. Frantic searches for cameras, sons
pointing the skype for their fianc?e to see, and as even more guests and
family arrived amid the hullabaloo, cries of ?what the heck? and ?what is it
doing?? became panicked comments of ?what do we do??

Finally calm Alpha Dad took charge and went outside to deal with the
situation. The situation? A male Rufous Hummingbird had somehow become
stuck to the wisteria plant directly outside our kitchen window, and no
matter how hard he struggled, twisting and turning among the blossoms, the
hummer could not escape. The blossoms did not break, and the bird was
frantically spinning himself into a tangle of wisteria stems. I was waiting
for a tarantula to come sneaking out of the arbor, as it looked like the
hummer was caught in a huge spider web! Time moved slowly as we all
watched, mesmerized, as Bob carefully wrangled the hummingbird into his
hands and was able to gently cup the hummingbird in his palms. But then,
more trouble! It became obvious that the problem was that the hummingbird?s
tongue was stuck tight to the stamen or pistil or whatever part of the
blossom it was hooked to, and even clever Alpha Dad Bob could not get it
unstuck.



Bob brought the bird into the kitchen for some ?surgery?, and after some
tense moments (because that bird was stuck!), he did manage to gently loosen
the blossom from the hummer?s tongue. After taking the tiny bright orange
bird outside to calm down a bit, Bob opened his hands and released him,
where the bird immediately took to the air. It was an incredibly surreal
experience (I?m sure for the hummer especially!) and it all happened so fast
and furious that not one of us got a picture.

And that was a Father?s Day to remember! But beware the wisteria, I guess!
Happy Birding!
Paula Flores
Sammamish, WA
floresnw AT hotmail.com