Bright things

 

Would you believe it. I have just seen a hummingbird,” shouted my friend excitedly. She had been walking near the canal and had seen this ‘brightly coloured bird' which can only have been a hummingbird.’ It was no such thing, of course, because you do not find them in this country. She had not seen a hummingbird, but what had she seen?

I found the answer last week when I was in a bird hide. I applied on-line to get into this bird hide. There was an email address and you had to navigate your way to the form. It was difficult and a lot of clicks away until the application form appeared. It had to be filled in online then I had to sign. This was difficult but I was so excited to think that I might be able to go into a new hide and see the wildlife on the other side. And so, I plodded on with using the mouse which activated a thin line for me to sign my name in a squiggly way. I pressed ‘send’ and waited. Nothing happened.

Then after about a week an envelope came in the post with a glossy permit ticket. There was a welcome note too along with the all-important code number to let me in. I could not have been more pleased if I had won the lottery (I suppose it depends how much). We went in. A man came after us.  He told us to look at the perches above the pool. He had his camera trained and we held our breath. Then suddenly there it was.

It was a kingfisher, with a bright startling blue back and an orange breast. It sat on a perch and hovered over the water then a quick dive and it was back on its perch with a fish in its beak. This must have been what my friend had seen at the canal and thought it was a hummingbird. A mystery was solved at least for my friend but not for the kingfisher whose fish was so large that it kept on twitching in order to get away. Then the bird flew onto a larger branch and slapped the fish onto the bark which eventually did the trick.

Last week I had a short stay in hospital. At first, I was awake most nights in the unfamiliar surroundings. Night after night when all was quiet in came a group of people working in the shadows. Their bright clothes hardly hidden by their tabards, some with luminous blue and red hair. They cleaned the ward whilst we were resting. Hidden and elusive reminding me of the kingfisher to cheer the heart.        

(Taken from my column in the Shropshire Star)

My photo is of an elephant Hawkmoth - the hummingbird Hawkmoth moved too quickly!