Only One Hummingbird Still Makes A Magical View

The rain began falling this morning early, just at dawn. Cold and soaking. Northwest winter rain. The kind for which we have received a tarnished, if not rusty, reputation. Truth is we don't like it much either. As much as it chills me to the bone I always imagine the toll on creature without the luxury of a space heater and cuppa tea. Over a dozen species of birds, little feathered souls, have flocked to the backyard feeders to fuel against the chilly downpour. My past couple weeks away in Costa Rica seems to have caused them a bit of concern - especially the diminutive dragons - Anna's hummingbirds.

With the hummingbird feeders full the Anna's, feisty three-inch hummers, have filled their bellies with sugar water and have returned to squabbling over the remainder - more of the sweet liquid than any one of them could possibly slurp up on their on. If birds did indeed evolve from dinosaurs then I fear what a 10 foot high version of these little bullies must have been like.

Peering out the kitchen window at one little male, his head swiveling side-to-side, alternately flashing the most brilliant ruby-violet color imaginable, I flashed back on one week ago, standing in the edge of the montane cloud rainforest of Monteverde Biological Reserve in Costa Rica. There, squadrons of these aerial acrobats squabbled and jousted over the sweet liquid in a half dozen feeders at the park's Hummingbird Gallery - one of the most enchanting experiences on the face of the Earth. A dozen different species vie for the feeders - oblivious to all other creatures, including humans. Their wings flashed by my head so close that wing-beat wakes would rush over my cheeks, a whoosh of air making me flinch. One diminutive hummer even entered the lens hood on my telephoto lens to challenge the reflected foe. This morning, clutching my hot cuppa Earl Grey tea and watching my single hummingbird species, I had but one regret, to paraphrase my Costa Rican friend Rudy Zamora, "I live in a place that has only one hummingbird." His regret was a planet with only one moon.

Then I thought a bit longer - if my world was only this vision, through this kitchen window, and I never knew such a place as the Hummingbird Gallery existed, I would rejoice in the one winged-jewel I have. Still, a couple more moons would still be cool.

Costa Rican hummers from top to bottom:

Male Purple-throated Mountain-gem (Lampornis calolaemus)

Male Violet Saberwing (Campylopterus hemileucurus)

Female Purple-throated Mountain-gem (Lampornis calolaemus)

Male Green Violet-ear (Colibri thalassinus)