It's a beautiful morning. The temperature is almost 60, the sky is mostly clear, a slight breeze from the southwest. The coffee smells good and the birds are sing'n. I've already filled the bird feeder. I said good morning to Joe who is scouting the flat stones for breakfast from her station. I'm at my station having some coffee.
I notice a humming bird flying close to Joe's station. I've never seen a hummer approach any portion of the pond in the past so I'm curious as to what this little guy is up to. The hummer comes close to the waterfall and then zooms away only to return a few minutes later. Once again the hummer comes close to the waterfall and once again zooms away. Joe turns toward the place the hummer was hovering.
A few minutes later the hummer returns. This time the hummer lands in the water just about 4 or 5 inches from the edge of the waterfall. It's taking a bath! WOW! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the hummer likes to bathe like the other birds, but I've never seen it actually happen before.
This little guy is having a good time and fluttering away making the water fly. This, of course, has put Joe on high alert and she is slowly approaching the hummer. It wouldn't be much of a meal for Joe as the hummer is about a 100th the size of Joe... not even close to Joe's usual meal be it finch or sparrow.
The hummer continues to bathe and Joe is about a foot away. POW! Joe springs from the water with her mouth wide-open. Now airborne, Joe is committed. The hummer zooms back and to the right. Man oh man those hummers are fast. Joe misses by feet and is still flying through the air as the hummer vanishes in the distance. Joe flies over the edge of the falls never touching the water or stone. SPLASH... ripples in the skimmer pond radiate out from the landing zone. It was a belly flop. If this were the frog Olympics I would have given her 2 points... only because of the size of the splash.
Joe crawled out of the skimmer pond and was back on station within a few minutes. She's no quitter... of course she doesn't have much choice but to keep hunting or starve.
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