There is a series of episodes of the old sitcom Cheers where the character of Cliff Claven visits Florida and won’t stop talking about it when he gets back. I’m about to do the same from my wife and my short trip to Belize. Last week’s commentary was on the Mayan ruins my wife and I visited there. Today it’s my Belize hummingbird story.
I love these little birds. To me, any animal that moves like they do and flies as quickly as they do and their only food is, essentially, sugar water deserves respect. They expend extraordinary energy with a diet that consists of only Gatorade.
When my wife and I got into our hotel room, I unzipped my luggage and assembled the hummingbird feeder I brought. My wife was unaware I had packed it and she gave me a look of concern. “Maybe you’ve gone too far,” she was saying, “when you travel with your own hummingbird feeders.” I filled it with the sugar water I had packed in a thermos and stepped outside the hotel room and found a tree branch and hung it up where I could easily see it and get close to it. By that first afternoon, a blue headed hummingbird had found it and was feeding regularly. It was very active at the feeder in the evenings and morning, and each day I’d sit near the feeder and get closer and closer to it so that it began to recognize me and realize I was no threat. On day three, I put out small feeders that fit in the palm of my hand. They have a small elastic band on them that you can fit over your finger. I left them near the feeder, and the bird began feeding from these smaller ring feeders, and I kept them full. I tried to get close, but the bird would dart away. It was a much larger bird than the ones at our feeders here in Mobile, maybe twice the size, and when it flew it made a huge buzzing sound. I tried repeatedly. It wouldn’t let me get close.
We were leaving Belize on day four. Checkout was eleven AM, and we had to eat, pack and get on the road. I woke early, got near the feeder and put the ring fingers on the index finger in both hands and sat as still as I could next to the feeder, and he came. He fed at the feeder then came to ring feeders in my hand and hovered, eyeing me and the feeders warily. I could feel the wind from his wings, and then he drank. I watched as a dream of mine came true! I was hand feeding a hummingbird that I had lured in over four days. He came back, and I had my phone camera on and videoed it and showed it to my wife when she woke. I was giddy, and I’m not sure why. Such a simple thing but, man, it was awesome.
I’m Cam Marston, and I’m just trying to keep it real.
