Double Egg Surprise at the School Cafeteria

Friday morning, I went to a free talk on preventing child abuse. Don't worry, this blog's focus is FUN stuff, so I'm not going to write about that. I'm going to tell you what happened before and after the lecture.

The internet wouldn't work when I got out of bed. Of course, I'd save all the relevant event info on my google calendar. Since I couldn't access it, I just had my memory to go on. Here's what I remembered: 8:00 am in room 154 at Cuesta College.

I was real impressed when I got there with all the signs directing me from the entrance to the correct parking lot and then to the correct sidewalk. But, once I was standing on the sidewalk with all the various buildings that make up the campus spread out in front of me...I couldn't find anymore signs! I was running a little late. I think it was 5 after by the time I got out of the van. I started to think maybe they had removed the rest of the signs so random, curious people wouldn't wander in and interrupt the event.

Well, I was curious, but I wasn't random. I had pre-registered on-line! So I wandered around, determined to find room 154 on my own. It was a cold, dreary, damp morning. There were hardly any students anywhere. I couldn't find anyone who looked like enough of an authority to bother asking for information. Most of the doors I tried were locked. I started to feel like I was going to cry.

Does anyone else ever feel like that when they are late and lost and cold and alone? I felt so silly, getting so upset. I mean, what was the worst thing that was going to happen? I would go home to my dog and a hot pot of tea and do whatever I wanted for the rest of the morning. Certainly not a fate worth crying about!

But I didn't want to do all that, I wanted to go to the talk. So, I called my good friend A., who was sitting at her desk at work already, and asked her to look up the event info on-line.

Once again I noticed how my memory for numbers just isn't all that good. The talk started at 9:00 am in room 1504.

I was almost an hour early. No wonder all the signs weren't up yet! Luckily, I'd brought a book with me, and by now, I'd found the cafeteria and knew that it was open...and warm inside.

I found a table by a big window. There was a bunch of shrubbery growing up against the glass, so there wasn't much light coming in. But it was cozy and I was so happy to be inside! Instead of reading, I decided I'd rather call my mom and find out what her plans were for the weekend. She's always got interesting things planned.

She didn't answer and I left her a message. It went something like this:

"Hi Mom. It's me. I just called to see what you were up to. It's Friday morning and I'm in the cafeteria...oh! Oh my goodness! I've got to go! I'll talk to you later! Bye!"

Staring out the window, with the phone to my ear, I'd suddenly noticed a tiny, drab-colored little bird perched on a branch of the bush. It probably only saw the reflection of the bush and sky against the window pane, and thought it was safely hidden from everyone and everything. But I could see right through the glass! It was less than two feet away from me! And it was TINY. It couldn't have been more than 3 inches long from beak to tail. I started wracking my brain, trying to remember what little greyish brown bird was as small as a hummingbird!




I wish there was some way to communicate just how small and fragile this bird looked, and how close I was to it! In the photo above, it just looks like a photo of a larger bird taken from farther away. But it isn't! I had my nose pressed right up against the glass, and I was looking right into it's teensy little eyes! (When they were open, they are kind of closed in this photo.)

Thank goodness my neck eventually got tired enough that I had to back away and stand up. Otherwise, I might never have noticed the OTHER bird. This one in her charming and miraculous little cup nest built from lichen!



The first one was looking up at it every so often, like he was just checking to make sure she was okay. At this point I decided that the first one must be the male, and that he was guarding the female while she sat on their eggs.



I stood up on a chair to try and get a better view down into the nest. I was hoping the eggs themselves would help me identify these mysterious miniature birds, but I couldn't see any.



I knew they couldn't actually be hummingbirds, no matter how tiny they were. For one, they didn't have any bright colors at all. No green wings, no orange backs, no red pink or purple throats. They were just drab drab drab. Plus, they weren't humming. They were just sitting there. I had never ever ever seen any hummingbird be that still! "Gosh Darn It!" I thought, "Why do I EVER leave home without my bird books?"

And then, the first one hopped off his little branch, and flew! He hovered in the air just a few inches from his perch with his wings thrust out sideways and moving so fast that they became an almost invisible blur.

I don't know if it's obvious in these photos, but it was suddenly obvious to me. These WERE hummingbirds after all!

He didn't fly for very long. After just a few moments of hovering, he returned to his post and resumed staring up at his "wife" in the nest. Luckily, this time he positioned himself so he was facing me, and I could see that he did indeed have a dark patch on his throat. I knew enough about hummingbirds to recognize this as his "gorget," and to suspect that in direct light it would flash amazingly bright and beautiful. Whether it flashed red, purple or pink might help me recognize this species when I got my hands on a field guide. But, there was no hope of direct sunlight here inside this bush.

Then, suddenly...the real excitement began! A third hummingbird arrived! This one must have been a different species, because it was brightly colored. It swept into the bush and flitted around aggressively, flipping the bright white tips of his tail and showing off his deep red throat patch!

Mrs. Littlebrownhummer didn't move from her nest, but her husband lifted nervously off the branch and buzzed around the interloper until he backed off!

He didn't leave completely. He settled down on a different bush at the other end of the window. But he didn't come near the little brown pair again after that.

Then, he flew straight up from the bush and into the air. I was able to get some lovely shots of him siloutted against the morning sky. (I was only going to post one of these photos here, but all 5 turned out and I just can't decide which one is best. Anyway, all together they really show how amazing the hummingbird's wing design is. No other bird flies like this! When early Spanish explorers first encountered them in the "New World" they described them as a cross between an insect and a bird!)





Wow! What a morning! Thank goodness my internet conked out and I showed up early!

After the invader flew away, things calmed down for my little pair. She continued to sit in the nest. He continued to watch and protect her. I stared at them for a while longer, then I went to the talk. (It was easy to find and I was right on time for it.)

And the minute it ended, I marched back to my window to visit my new friends. You'll never guess what I saw!

My two hummingbirds were cuddled up in that tiny nest, together! I could hardly imagine how they both fit int here, but they obviously managed somehow.

They seemed especially happy and contents in there together. They took turns grooming their feathers (their own, not each others.) I think they took turns because if they both started stretching their wings out and craning their necks around at the same time, they might have fallen out.

They also spent a lot of time flicking their incredibly long, skinny tongues in and out of their long, skinny beaks.



Could you see that? Here's a closer shot.



Well, as fascinating as these birds were, I eventually left and went home. But I didn't forget about them.

First, I looked in my guide books. Next, I researched on line. Then, I talked to some local hummingbird experts. Then, I looked on-line some more and through my books again. Here is what I've learned is probably true:

These were not a mated pair. They were a couple of babies who had just recently gotten big enough to start flying on their own. The "agressive male interloper" that had worried me so much was actually their mother, stopping by to check on them. They brown ones didn't have any color because they are so young. Judging from the mother's plumage, they are both Anna's Hummingbirds, our most common species here in SLO county.

How did I figure this out? For one, adult males don't have anything to do with nests or eggs. They certainly don't get inside them! Two, the only explanation for the lack of color on these guys is that they are very young. Three, the fledglings in this video look very similar to the ones I saw.

It's a great video that someone took of a nest on their porch in San Diego. My favorite part is Day 24. I hope you watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG59PaCiiDg

Also, I hope remember, as I will try to do from now on, that there are always several different ways to interpret any situation. And, the most obvious one is not always the right one!