Really Big Bugs??

Belltown is not exactly a cornucopia of avian life. We have pigeons, crows, seagulls, sparrows, starlings and the occasional criminal-minded robin. That's about it. We have no good nesting spots - although pigeons and sparrows will nest anywhere - and our sidewalks don't always offer much sustenance. So yes, it's a crappy place for birds. Imagine, if you will, my surprise when I heard a strange buzzing - actually it was more of a humming sound - and looked out the window. I expected for the sound to belong to some idling piece of heavy equipment, some metal monster awaiting its task or maybe a cement mixer ready to fill in some of 2nd Avenue's many, many holes. Nothing of the sort. It was a humming bird - probably, as it turns out, an Anna's hummingbird. At first, I thought it was some really big and sickening bug. But no, it was a dun-gray little fellow who was taking a particular interest in my window boxes. He was soon joined by a friend. Honestly, I've never seen a single hummingbird in Belltown - let alone two. Here's a really bad photo of them:

Pardon the heck out of my filthy windows, but on the left side of the frame, you can see a little gray blur. That's our hummingbird. His friend is just below him. It's strange; if it had been a really large bug - and indeed there are moths as big as hummingbirds - I would have freaked out. But instead, it was the littlest of birds. And that made it somehow just fine. Small birds are simply more acceptable than big bugs. And that's the way it should be.

I have no idea what hummingbirds are doing in Belltown. They're obviously not from here. They're migratory, so they might be on their way south. Whatever reason they're here, I hope they come back. And they just might. Last year, when I was working right by Occidental Square, a hummingbird used to fly up to my window at 2:10, hover, stare at me for 10 seconds and fly away. This happened every day for a week, always at 2:10. I guess I just happened to be on that little guy's route or something. Anyhow, I'm very glad that hummingbirds visited me today.