Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Horror of horrors!

I was talking to my friend, on the phone, this morning when a mother hummingbird flew by. It passed by my window so I followed it towards my kitchen to see if she's going to feed her 2 little chicks lying in the nest. To my horror the nest is gone! The mother hummingbird was hovering around where it used to be; flew beside and under it; pecked on a seashell, and then flew away. She must be wondering what happened to the nest and her little ones.

The chicks with their tiny beaks sticking out of the nest.

This nest has been built by a hummingbird sometime in 2003. And every 2 years another or perhaps the same hummingbird comes back; renovates it, and lay eggs--usually 2. We at home kept track of the activity of the mother hen and watched the progress of the chicks. With excitement we would watch the mother as she feeds them, thrusting her long beak into her chicks' open mouths. There would come a time when she doesn't sit in the nest anymore, but would come every few hours to feed them. We watched the activity through our kitchen window as the nest was only 10 or 15 feet away, hanging on the trellis beam. The nest was built on my parol made of seashells.


The parol with the nest gone.
Photo taken from my kitchen window.


I went to the patio and found the nest laying flat on the concrete slab floor. Some seashells were strewn on the floor; the chicks gone, perhaps eaten by whatever attacked it. I felt so bad, feeling the pain of a mother losing her young ones. How could this have happened? In the past the chicks made it through, they flew away when they were strong enough. We have moved the ladder, which we used to take a peek at the eggs, away from the nest so it would be safe from any predator. Looking around, investigating I saw a broom stick I left at the other side of the wall, and it was slanted somehow. The culprit must have walked up the broom handle (a pole about 1 1/2" in diameter) alongside the wall and pawed on the nest until it fell to the floor. I felt so guilty, that I was responsible for the demise of the little hummers. Ooohhh...guilt...guilt...guilt.


Mother hen mourning her loss.


After about an hour or so mother hen came back. She landed on the parol and she was hunched, she was mourning the loss of her little ones.


All that was left of the nest was this...witness to the killing.

Sigh.

23 comments:

tina said...

awww.. how sad. i can almost feel how the mother would have felt. really..

Mari said...

tina, truly sad...sad.

Thanks for your visit.

Anonymous said...

why and who? the broomstick showed it. knowing you, you'll find out.

gee, this is so sad.

nini

Mari said...

nini, I never told the geek about the broomstick...he'll give me a tongue lashing, I tell you. My suspect is a racoon. He told me once that he's seen this animal clamber up our wall on the other side of the house.

Well, (big sigh) my fault for being so careless. I thought I put the broomstick far away enough from the nest. Next time, if ever another hummer builds a nest there, I wouldn't leave anything near that nest...nothing within 20'.

Thanks for your visit.

krystyna said...

Hi Mari!
I understand your feelings. Really very sad. I love birds and animals. Sometimes life is cruel.
Take care!

krystyna said...

Thank you very much for your praying!

Mari said...

krystyna, yes, such is life.

You're welcome re: prayer; thanks for your visit.

Anonymous said...

oh...uh!sad..sigh! Thanks for sharing though.

must not really easy to be a mother...

happy weekend Mari!

Anonymous said...

i have a feeling it's a racoon too, we have a lot of those (along with possum, squirrel, skunk,etc)around here. somebody gave us ducklings once, we put it in a wooden crate for the night until we figure out where to keep them, the next morning ... they're gone! ... only a few downs left ... we don't know how that racoon got into them, we even weighted the top of the crate with bricks but ...
they are clever!
so soooorrry to hear about those birdies but don't be too harsh on yourself ... we all make innocent mistakes.

~nancy~

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

kawawa naman.....sad kung mangyari sa buhay ng isang tao....kung sa atin...huwag sana...

i remember 2 wks ago, yon namatay yon ibon ni kim, naku umiyak ang bata, tapos nilagay pa nya sa best carton, tapos may sulat pa siya, na mahal daw nya at hindi daw nya malimutan si #Susie-bird name...
tapos inilibing pa nya....at nilagyan pa ng bulaklak...

thnks for sharing the bird´s life....

Mari said...

ev, yes, it's sad. Same with people...mothers most of all feel the pain...and so do the rest of the family and friends, as well.

Thanks for your visit.

nancy, yup, gotta be the racoon. They can climb like monkeys with their long claws and nails. They are really clever, huh? I found out they eat anything, those #$%^@#*@. Sniff, sniff...prssst.

Thanks for the words of comfort.

Have a good weekend.

vk, aw, that's sad. But it was so nice of Kim to give her bird Susie a decent burial and with flowers to boot. That is so sweet of her. Yeah, they get attached to their pets and they cry when they lose them.

This reminds me of when our dog Butch died. I cried. He died of old age.

Thanks for sharing Kim's bird story.

Have a great weekend.

tina said...

Ate we just got 3 or 4 pairs of lovebirds. seems like ito na naman ang hilig ni papa. hehehe. We've been buying stuffs for them.. e.g cages, toys, food. hehe

di pa satisfied kasi maliit ang cage papagawa ng mas malaking kulungan with plants.. para parang free to fly sila.. hehe

i bought an open birdhouse so that any bird can nest there as well... sana may mag nestt..... hehe.. wala lang gusto ko lang ishare.

Mari said...

tina, oh, lovebirds...wow. I heard they have to be in pairs, otherwise they'll be lonely and depressed. That's a good hobby for your papa, it will relieve him of the stress at work.

Oo, nga mas malaking cage mas malawak ang liparan nila, lalo na kung marami sila. More free to fly...and with plants, it's like they're in the woods...kuno. he he

Take pictures and write about them.

Thanks so much for sharing. Muah!

Anonymous said...

This is how predation works. Prey need predators, just as predators can't exist w/out prey. It's a fact,although I find it cruel when I witness it myself.

poor birds :(

Anonymous said...

Nakakalungkot naman, Mari. It's like losing her children and she's all lonely hay...

Nagbabalik na ako. Tapos na ang emo weeks ko heheeh

Anonymous said...

oh and oh and ohhhhh... what a lovely sight this morning. purplish pink flowers and a nice shot.

thanks for sharing; more please.

nini

Mari said...

cat, you're right, it's survival of the fittest. It truly is sad when it happens before our eyes.

Thanks for your comment.

sasha, malungkot nga.

Tapos na ang iyong moody days. He he he.

Thanks for your visit.

nini, oohh, thanks. Will post more pictures--flowers or anything.

Thanks for visiting again.

JMom said...

aw, so sad.... :(

Anonymous said...

sad story, indeed

and a hummingbird at that

hope the mother returns to build another nest there

Mari said...

jmom, yes, it's sad. I felt the pain myself. Sniff...sniff...prsst.

Thanks for your visit.

Mari said...

tutubi, it's truly sad. Yes, here's hoping mother hen will come back next year and build a brand new nest.

Thanks for visiting.

MeMeMe said...

so sad

Mari said...

jeannie hizon, oh, yes, so sad.

Thanks for your visit.