Isn't that how life goes sometimes!
Three weeks ago, I found a hummingbird live-cam online - https://www.bellahummingbird.com/. The same day I found it, the hummingbird mama - Bella - laid her first egg of the season. And then a second.
And I thought, "How cool! I get to see these babies from the very start."
Eager to see the babies hatch, I checked on the live-cam every couple days. And then, just a few days ago, the first baby hatched, followed shortly by the second.
Two tiny new baby hummingbirds. I called my boys over to show them off.
I guess this camera has been running since 2013. It's been going for 6 years, but this is the first time I noticed it. And I was excited about checking on the baby birds every day, watching them grow.
What an honor!
And then yesterday ... three weeks after I started watching the hummingbird live-cam that I missed for the last 6 years ... the mama bird was possibly killed, they suspect by a praying mantis (???), leaving two tiny new hatchlings behind, which were then sent to a place that could care for them.
How is it that this mama bird and nest are going just fine for 6 years ... but then three weeks after I start watching, delighting in the joy of being able to watch these little wonders grow, the mama gets attacked - possibly killed - by a mantis!?! Just days after the babies hatch!?!
Seriously!!! What's that about!?!
I mean, I'm not saying that I think my watching is what got her killed, but sometimes ...
I wonder.
This is why I try to not get too excited about things. If I do, something as absurd and out-of-the-ordinary as a praying mantis will come and destroy it.
Poor Bella! Sorry, Bella!
(To be fair to myself, we did get to watch a mama chickadee raise baby chickadees in a birdhouse in our yard, seen at the end of this post. And we even got to hold one when it flew out of the nest and crashed into our chicken-wire fence. And nothing bad happened to them.
That I know of.)
Update 4/4/19: I just checked in on the live cam again, and apparently Bella is back. According to the camera operator, Bella's a bit beat-up but alive. And she fixed up the nest and is starting over again, laying two more eggs. I am glad to hear. (But I still don't know if I will be watching anymore.)
And I thought, "How cool! I get to see these babies from the very start."
Eager to see the babies hatch, I checked on the live-cam every couple days. And then, just a few days ago, the first baby hatched, followed shortly by the second.
Two tiny new baby hummingbirds. I called my boys over to show them off.
I guess this camera has been running since 2013. It's been going for 6 years, but this is the first time I noticed it. And I was excited about checking on the baby birds every day, watching them grow.
What an honor!
And then yesterday ... three weeks after I started watching the hummingbird live-cam that I missed for the last 6 years ... the mama bird was possibly killed, they suspect by a praying mantis (???), leaving two tiny new hatchlings behind, which were then sent to a place that could care for them.
How is it that this mama bird and nest are going just fine for 6 years ... but then three weeks after I start watching, delighting in the joy of being able to watch these little wonders grow, the mama gets attacked - possibly killed - by a mantis!?! Just days after the babies hatch!?!
Seriously!!! What's that about!?!
I mean, I'm not saying that I think my watching is what got her killed, but sometimes ...
I wonder.
This is why I try to not get too excited about things. If I do, something as absurd and out-of-the-ordinary as a praying mantis will come and destroy it.
Poor Bella! Sorry, Bella!
(To be fair to myself, we did get to watch a mama chickadee raise baby chickadees in a birdhouse in our yard, seen at the end of this post. And we even got to hold one when it flew out of the nest and crashed into our chicken-wire fence. And nothing bad happened to them.
That I know of.)
Update 4/4/19: I just checked in on the live cam again, and apparently Bella is back. According to the camera operator, Bella's a bit beat-up but alive. And she fixed up the nest and is starting over again, laying two more eggs. I am glad to hear. (But I still don't know if I will be watching anymore.)
