So, after coming home from my family's Mother's Day picnic, and I figured it was still early enough to try a new location I haven't birded before: Madrona Trails, in East Bremerton. Lots of the expected birds, nothing too surprising, except for one.
I saw her on my way in, hovering above the shrubs: a female Rufous Hummingbird. Then, on my way out by the same route, I saw her again in the same spot -- and this time, she flew out of a bush literally right beside my head, and rose straight up, though looking down at me as she rose. Curious, I turned to look more carefully, and there it was: her nest, a ball of lichens no bigger than a ping pong ball, not two feet away from my head, right at eye level. I didn't dare get closer to look at the eggs, though I could have.
I am worried. That location must have seemed safe to her because it was on a blackberry cane, unpleasant for ground-based predators to climb. But if other people use that trail, I know it is just a matter of time before someone less conscientious than I am sees her fly up and finds the nest. And even if no one messes with it, her having to fly up every time someone goes by cannot be good for the eggs or her. I can avoid that trail, because I know she is there; but each new person passing by has to find out anew. A hummingbird flying out of a bush right beside one's head is bound to arouse curiosity.
Jason Hernandez .Bremerton .
jason.hernandez74 at yahoo.com