If you read my post about the giant lichen orbweavers in our back yard, then you got a hint of what was to come next on my blog. And it wasn't good.
This morning, James reported that one of the orbweavers had caught something in her web and was wrapping it up. Did I want to see? No, I replied groggily, still waking up in bed. "You can get a video for me," I added.
Then James ran back inside. "I'm gonna need help!" he exclaimed out of breath. "The spider's got a hummingbird!"
With THAT update, I threw back the covers and literally jumped out of bed. I grabbed a pair of small scissors and flew out the garage door. As I worked to free, the little hummgbird squeaked with fear.
After the little bird's release, the rest of my day until 12:30 p.m. was spent trying to rehab her so she could fly again. But it didn't look good for her at the start. In the meantime, James tore down both giant webs in the back yard.
With time, I did manage to get most of the web off the hummer, but her left
wing didn't fold out normally. In between cleaning sessions, I kept her
on a towel in a lidded shoebox. Now and then I offered her sugar water
from a syringe, and she sipped. Yay! I finally used a warm wet rag to wash off her left
wing as best I could.
Finally, after a couple of unsuccessful tries, I carried her outside still inside the box. Squatting low to the ground, I took her out and held her gently in my hands. Slowly, I opened my hands. She sat there quietly. With my thumb, I stroked her back. Then, within a few seconds, she lifted off and hoovered into a live oak! For a little while, she just perched on a limb with her left wing outstretched. I went into the house but returned a few minutes later to check on her. She still perched in the same area on the same limb. I could see her little head turning back and forth, nervously taking in the view. A few little feathers stuck out from her head. The thought occurred to me to hang a feeder in her vicinity. But when I returned with a feeder, she was gone.
If
we see a little hummer at our feeder with unruly head feathers, I'll
let you know! I sure hope we do. As for the two orbweavers, well, they'll still live in our back yard. Orbweavers do occasionally catch birds in their webs, but it's rare. Either way, that's just nature.
