Hummingbird swarm

[Sherri Carpenter <sherric@charter.net>]

Wow!  For a gray, rainy afternoon, this one turned out all right.  We
drove to Chatham, VA for a winetasting festival that was really neat.
We got home around 5:30 PM and headed - as usual - for the screened-in
back porch, where we were treated to the spectacle of a hummingbird
swarm.  The rubythroats, mostly females and immatures, filled the air
with sound and flurry around one of our four feeders, one that hangs
less than a foot from the porch screen.  Why that one?  I don't know!
As many as seven individuals would feed at one time, while others lit on
the rose-of-Sharon bushes, the fence, and the power line.  Then an
aerial battle would ensue, and another (?) lucky few would feed for a
few minutes.  We got a solid count of 12 hummers, there may have been
more.
We had the back screen door cracked for dog access.  I had started
making dinner when Steve called, "Sherri!  Want a hummingbird?"  Food
was forgotten as I ran back out to see what he was talking about.  One
of the hummers had flown into the porch and was stuck in the screen by
its beak, trying to get out.  Steve gently closed his hand around it and
pulled it out of the screen, then transferred the tiny thing to my
cupped hands!   The tiny feet barely gripped one pinky, then the wings
fluttered.  It was as close to holding nothing as you could get while
holding something.  I savored the feel of "nothing" in my hands for a
few seconds before walking to the door and opening my palms flat.  The
hummer, apparently no worse for wear, flew immediately to the fence,
paused a few seconds, then rejoined the crowd at the feeder.
Not a bad day.