Hummingbirds!

Wow, y'all! Today as I was walking into work I saw what I thought was a leaf on the sidewalk. Usually a step on all the leaves I see downtown, just in case they are crunchy (stepping on crunchy leaves will always be fun, no matter how old I am). Well it's a good thing I took a closer look at this leaf before crunching it, because it turns out it was a hummingbird!

I've never seen a hummingbird downtown before. He was just sitting on the sidewalk. I bent down, and strangely, he let me touch him. I gently scooped him up into my hand and he perched on one of my fingers. He let me just carry him around downtown, never trying to fly away or anything. I figured he was hurt or sick. I brought him up to my office so I could do some research. His name was Pochipo. :)

Turns out, it's hummingbird migrating season. Hummingbirds will often fly into windows and stun themselves. This little guy was sitting in direct sunlight on the sidewalk and I think he was overheated and stunned. He cooled off for maybe five minutes in my office and I decided to walk him over to capitol hill where there are trees and flowers and grass instead of sidewalk and concrete and glass. Now that he was rested, cooled off, and un-stunned, he flew out of my hand and was a happy little hummingbird back where he belongs. Hooray!

Then as I was walking back to my office, there was ANOTHER hummingbird on the sidewalk! His wings were splayed out. You can see how tiny hummingbirds are.
























He was also in direct sunlight on the sidewalk, and he was hot and stunned. His wings weren't broken or anything, and he tucked them in shortly after I picked him up. I walked him over to capitol hill, and held him in the shade for a while so he could cool down and regain hummingbird consciousness without being stepped on or ran over. It took a few minutes, but then he was good to go! Another hummingbird rescued from the unsafe downtown streets. Hopefully they are headed back on their migratory route safe and sound now, avoiding skyscrapers this time around.

Let them...

1. Make cake.

2. Eat cake.

3. ???

4. Profit