April Rose thought she was going to perform a straightforward task as she stepped outside onto her terrace to assist her mother in raking some leaves and trimming the backyard. Then, something caught her eye that wasn’t what it looked.
Rose told The Dodo, “I just so happened to look down beside a rocking rocker and spotted a small glob that I assumed was a leaf.
She approached the odd-shaped leaf and bent down to examine it.
“I walked over to it because I wasn’t sure and, as I squatted down, I realized it was a baby hummingbird!” Rose said.
As a nature and bird lover, Rose knew she had to do something for the tiny baby who was too young to fly on her own. She picked up the little bird and placed her on an overturned water dish so she’d be easier for her mom to find.
“She looked scared and she started trying to fly, but couldn’t,” Rose said. “I started looking around to see if Mom was anywhere, but at that time she wasn’t — not that we saw, anyway.”
Rose left to try and locate the baby’s nest; however, hummingbird nests are typically built high up in trees or in thick shrubbery and are about the size of a ping-pong ball. With a nest so small and well-camouflaged, she had a hard time spotting it.
When Rose was unable to locate the roost, she set to work making a temporary nest for the little chick so that it would be secure and warm.
The hummingbird mother, however, reappeared while Rose was busy, attempting to prod and pick up her wandering baby. But she couldn’t lift the small bird since it was too heavy. It was simultaneously sad and wonderful, Rose said.
The baby bird stayed in the makeshift nest for two days, while her mom continued to visit for regular feedings. Eventually, Rose found her original nest nearby, tucked between branches and was able to place the baby bird back where she belonged.
And about week later, just as suddenly as the little bird had appeared, she was gone.
Rose is so happy that she was able to help the lost baby grow up strong, and she hopes that next year, the little bird will return to her yard to make a nest to raise a family of her own.
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