Last evening a hummingbird and robin were sitting on the two bare branches that point skyward from one of the plum trees in the back garden. They looked rather startling silhouetted against the sky, their different size, their different shape.
Suddenly robin hopped higher on its branch. A moment later hummer swooped higher on his. Robin then moved to the very tip. Hummingbird went to the top of its tree limb; this tip is the summit of the tree. There was nowhere higher for robin to go. It flew away.
Hummingbird, then - I wish everyone could have seen this - put its wings in motion but held on to the branch and did a sort of pirouette, an aerial ballet dancer. I had to remind myself to take a breath.
Next it sat still and began voicing - not the ticking sound that lets me locate it in the tree, not the whirring of the wings at the feeder - no, this was more a bsip bsip bsip bsip. I tried a reply but mine came out more bsh bsh bsh. Hummer was silent for my attempt but as soon as I was quiet it strung many bsip's on the line between us. I tried again and seemed closer but I still had an h so it was bship. Bird looked around in all directions before once more staring at me and clearly bsip'ing. I must have gotten it. Hummingbird flew low past me on its way home.
Comments