Elusive Treasure

I was always dreaming about hummingbirds.

Fascinating creatures, they captured my mind. I was collecting pictures from magazines, read books and articles, marveled at mind boggling facts. Long before Google, learning about them was not an easy task.

When I was invited to see the miracle of the Internet for the first time, a friend of mine, who was proudly showing me the possibilities of the Web, asked, “What do you want to see?”

“What can I chose from?”

He replied, “Anything in the world!”

My answer was predictable: “Show me a hummingbird?”

And sure enough, after 5 minutes of waiting (yes, the wonders of the previous century!), a picture of a hummingbird appeared on the screen in a dark cold room way after midnight. That was my first encounter with the World Wide Web.

Little did I know then that life would turn unexpectedly and bring me to the other side of the globe, so I could actually see these tiny flying miracles with my own eyes.

Still entranced, at first I was sure my eyes betrayed me, so unreal was the experience! Flying erratically, they were zig-zagging in the air, hovering over flowers and darting away… Almost impossible to catch, but still I tried… All I got were blurry blobs and empty frames as the birds flew out of the picture faster than I could react. My frustration grew, my hopes for a good picture left and I almost gave up…

I went to the Arboretum, attracted by the Hummingbird Trail—the path winding through a mix of exotic flowers and familiar plants, offering cherished sweet nectar in abundance. And yes, there were hummingbirds, many of them, filling the air with the sound of wings flapping tirelessly, stopping midair every now and then, but alas! They were camouflaged so perfectly that even when I got them in a frame, it was hard to distinguish the bird from the colorful flowers and bright leaves shimmering in the sunshine. It seemed so futile…

I got a hummingbird feeder and placed it on my balcony. Attracted by the bright red color of the jar and yellow plastic flowers, the birds came cautiously at first, but soon became frequent visitors. More than once I was spending time watching them, but getting a good picture still seemed beyond reach. Dark silhouettes against the blue sky background were not even close to resembling their beauty. It was always a pleasure to watch them, but the photographs were disappointing.

The birds were happy in my backyard, and one day I found a nest! I was afraid to disturb them, so I didn’t try to get a closer look. The little ones were sitting quietly in the tiny artfully woven nest, growing by the hour.

Time went by. I hoped to see them fly any time soon, but life never goes as expected. One day I went to the backyard to prune my roses and heard some disturbing sound—a repeating “peep!” coming from their nest. I went back to check online and found out that hummingbird babies only make sound if the mother bird abandons them... it was a distress call! Unsure what to do, but determined to help, I called the Wildlife Center. They told me to bring the little ones to them.

I cut off the branch with the nest, took it to the kitchen and gave the chicks some sugar water to sustain them until I could get them to the safety of the shelter. They drank eagerly and became quiet again. Little did I know about their abilities—I had never before witnessed the tiny ones relieving themselves. The chicks lifted their tails, and the projectile flew across my kitchen! It was spectacular! Apparently, in order not to attract ants to the nest, hummingbird babies are equipped with tiny canons, shooting the sweet excrements far away from their home. Both my kitchen and my minivan were generously blessed by the hummingbird babies…

I delivered them to the rescuers and later l was notified they were properly cared for, trained and released back into the wild. I felt quite acquainted with the birds, yet a satisfying picture was still eluding me.

One day I was just walking back home after a stroll in the park. A big white construction van was parked on the street—my neighbors were again fixing something in their house. Suddenly a hummingbird appeared out of nowhere, and the van turned out to be the perfect background! I grabbed my phone and frantically snapped some photos. Later I cropped the van out, slightly adjusted the contrast and brightness—and lo and behold, there it was. Finally! My tiny little dream, captured in majestic beauty!

And sure enough, to complete the circle, I posted the hummingbird picture on the Internet…