This Episode of National Geographic.

It has been so much fun keeping an eye on the hummingbird nest this summer.  That being said, we left for San Diego and with Levi leaving, I had been a bit distracted.  One Sunday afternoon, I was out on the patio cleaning of the tables when, what felt like hundreds, of wasps came out from the patio umbrella.  I started screaming and shooing the dogs away.  The wasps were swarming.  I chased the dogs into the house and ran into the house myself, and unbelievably, none of us gut stung.  

I did what any normal grown woman would do, and I called my dad to come get them.  While i was waiting for him to arrive, I was staring out my back window and noticed these poky things in the nest.  They were not moving at all.  I thought, oh no, the mom must be belly up.  At that moment, I thought, "I hate this episode of National Geographic."

After my dad arrived and took care of the wasps (yes, I hid behind him), I carried the ladder out and had him climb up to check the nest.  I was not brave enough to do so, as my tolerance for loss was waning and I had come attached to this nest.  He started to poke the nest and peaked in and the poky things started to move.  It was the two baby beaks.

That began my vigil of watching for the momma bird.  I was certain that something had happened to her and the babies would starve.  I made sure all the nectar was fresh and watched like crazy.  I kept a close eye on that nest.  I even googled how often the mom would come back.  Apparently, she return often, but only for seconds, as they cannot all fit in the nest.

My diligent watchfulness paid off, as I caught her in the act of feeding several times.  The kicker is...about a week or so later, I was out in the backyard chatting with a handyman, when the momma bird buzzed by us.  We both looked up, as I pointed out the nest above his head.  The two babies were perched on the edge.  He pulled out his camera and started taking pictures.  He left, and I ran inside to take a call.  I came back out shortly after to find that the babies had vacated the nest to no longer return.  I was so happy to have witnessed the whole evolution, but so sad to see them go.

Back to the beginning of this story.  Check out this crazy wasp nest.  It was one of about five nests in my patio umbrella.  Sheesh!