The Gift (19 page)

Leah smiled in return. “I enjoy being with all three of the girls. They’ve become very special to me.”

They visited a few more minutes, and then Sara and little Mark showed up. They’d just gotten seated on the porch when Priscilla arrived.

“Where’s the woman who’ll be doing the banding?” Priscilla asked. “She didn’t come and go already, I hope.”

Leah shook her head. “Alissa must be running late, but hopefully she’ll be here soon.” She gestured to the one empty chair. “Why don’t you take a seat? We can all visit while we wait for Alissa to get here.”

Fifteen minutes later, Leah decided to walk out to the phone shack to see if Alissa may have called and left a message. She’d just opened the door to the small wooden building, when Alissa’s car pulled in. Leah waved and followed the vehicle up the driveway.

“Sorry I’m late,” Alissa said, her auburn-colored ponytail bouncing as she stepped out of her car and joined Leah on the lawn. “I had a few interruptions this morning and it put me a little behind.”

“That’s okay. Everyone I invited is here, so we’re ready and eager for you to get started.”

“Perhaps one of the girls can help me bring some of my things to the banding area,” Alissa suggested.

“I’ll help,” Amy volunteered.

“Alissa, this is Amy. She’s the oldest of Adam’s nieces.” Leah then introduced the other two girls, as well as Adam and her other guests.

“It’s nice to meet all of you. Amy, would you mind getting my canvas bag? That has all my instruments in it. Leah, if you’ll carry the birdcage, I’ll get the tables.” Alissa reached into the trunk of her car to get the rest of her things. “I think that’s everything I’ll need.” She put the birdcage on a small table near the hummingbird feeders. That way, while everything else was being set up, the hummers would have some time to get used to the cage and fly in and out of it to get to the feeder she’d hung inside.

Alissa laid out all her instruments and rechecked the bands she’d brought, saying she needed to make sure they were in consecutive order. “Amy, how would you like to be my helper today?” Alissa asked. “That is, if it’s okay with your uncle and Leah.”

Instantly, Leah nodded her approval. Glancing over at Adam for his reaction, she was glad when he also nodded.

“I’d like to help, but I’m not sure what to do,” Amy said hesitantly.

“I’ll explain everything as we go along.” Alissa smiled as she explained how the hummingbirds would be caught. “The door to the birdcage will be left open, but it’s operated by a remote control, which Amy will be using. Once a hummingbird flies into the cage to the feeder, Amy will hit the button on the remote to quickly close the door.” Alissa went on to explain how the doorway was lined with soft material, in case a hummer tried to fly out while the door was going down. “In all the years I’ve been banding hummingbirds, that’s never happened,” she added. “But we want to do everything possible to ensure the safety of the birds. My husband usually accompanies me when I do bird banding, but he isn’t feeling well this morning. He’s the one who actually set up this remote to close the door.”

Alissa looked at Amy. “Now, once a hummingbird is caught, you will need to carefully take it out of the cage and put it in one of the soft cloth bags I brought, and then bring it up to me.”

Amy’s eyes widened. “You… you mean I get to hold the little birds?”

“That’s right, but your hands are small, and I’m sure you’ll be very gentle.”

Eyes now bright with anticipation, Amy nodded. “I’ll do my best not to hurt any of ’em.”

Leah was pleased that Alissa had asked for Amy’s help rather than one of the adults. The child seemed eager, and Leah hoped everything would go as it should. If Amy were to injure one of the delicate birds, she would no doubt be extremely upset.

“Try not to worry,” Adam whispered, leaning close to Leah, as though he could read her thoughts. “I think this is good for Amy.”

Leah, feeling almost breathless from the nearness of him, nodded. “Jah, so do I.”

Pulling her gaze from Adam, Leah focused on the little white bag that resembled an onion sack, with tiny holes through it. This was the bag that safely held the hummingbird until Alissa was ready to band it.

“The first thing I will do is band the hummingbird,” Alissa told them. “After that, I’ll determine if it is a hatch-year or after-hatch-year hummer.”

“What does that mean?” Adam asked, looking at Leah’s neighbor curiously.

“After-hatch-year means the hummingbird is an adult, and hatch-year means it was hatched out that year, so it’s an immature hummingbird,” Alissa replied.

“That certainly makes sense.” Adam’s ears turned pink. “Guess it was a silly question.”

Alissa shook her head. “Hey, no question is silly. That’s how we learn.”

“How do you determine if it’s an adult hummingbird?” Sara asked, bouncing Mark on her lap.

“I actually use a jeweler’s loupe, which is a small round magnifying glass that I hook onto my glasses. It gives me a close-up look at the hummingbird’s beak. The beak is also referred to as the
culmen.
” Alissa picked up the eyepiece and showed it to everyone. “Grooving on the culmen tells me it is an immature bird. No grooving and a smooth beak indicate it’s an adult.”

Leah looked around, noticing how interested everyone seemed to be. The girls, especially, were intently watching and listening to every word Alissa said, leaning forward as though anxious to learn more. Leah was pleased that this day was working out so well. Hopefully all the little hummingbirds would cooperate, too.

Alissa then showed them the other instruments she would be using to gather information on each hummingbird. One was the small tool especially made to put the band on the hummingbird’s leg. Each band had a number engraved on it, all in sequence.

“Each band gets put on the bird’s right leg,” Alissa explained. “All bird banders follow that rule.”

“Does it hurt the bird?” Linda questioned.

“I was going to ask that, too,” Priscilla put in.

“There is no harm to the bird. These bands are especially made for the hummingbird species, and they won’t even know it’s on them,” Alissa assured everyone.

“I’ve been watching, and several hummingbirds have flown into the cage to get a drink. Then they flew right back out again,” Amy stated.

“That’s good.” Alissa smiled. “It means they’re getting used to the cage. We shouldn’t have any trouble at all banding a good number of them this morning.”

Alissa explained about the rest of the instruments. The small scales were to weigh the bird, and she also described the instrument that measured its culmen, wings, and tail. She told them that the ruby-throated was the most common species of hummingbirds in the state of Illinois. “But it’s not unusual for another type of hummingbird to venture into our state,” she added. “When that happens, it causes a bit of excitement among the licensed banders and the bird-watching community, especially if it’s a rare hummingbird not common to our area.”

Leah was amazed at all the things Alissa told them. She had no idea so much was involved with banding a hummingbird. Amy sat forward, as if grasping every word her neighbor said. It was a far cry from the disinterest she had shown about other things since she and her sisters had come to live with Adam.

“I will also check for the gorget feathers, which are the bright red feathers on the hummingbird’s throat. Only the male hummingbirds have those types of feathers, and this is why they are called ruby-throated,” Alissa said.

“I see another hummingbird just flew out of the cage.” Priscilla pointed in that direction.

“Leah, you certainly weren’t kidding when you said you had a lot of hummingbirds at your feeders,” Sara commented. “They’re like a swarm of bees buzzing around.”

“How much sugar do you go through each summer?” Adam asked.

“Believe it or not, last year at this time during migration, I almost went through ten pounds of sugar each week. This extreme activity goes on for about three weeks. Then as more hummers head south of here, it slows up a bit.” Leah gestured to her feeders. “As you can see, I have six feeders hanging out to accommodate all the hummingbirds I get. By the end of the day, those feeders will be empty.”

Adam’s eyebrows lifted. “That must really keep you busy.”

“It does, but it’s a nice kind of busy. I always refill the feeders in the evening so that in the morning when the hummers really need to juice up, the feeders will be full for them.”

“I can see this is a good place to band hummingbirds,” Alissa said to Leah. “I only have one other place in this area that I go to each year for banding. Maybe I can talk to you later about having a session here next year as well.” She looked at Linda. “How would you like to write the information down on the chart as I do each hummingbird? And Leah, maybe you can help her with that.”

Linda nodded enthusiastically.

Both Leah and Linda listened as Alissa explained the chart and where all the information should go. After that, everyone watched and waited for the next hummingbird to enter the cage. They didn’t have to wait long before one zipped in and landed on the feeder for a drink. This would be their first one to band.

“Okay, Amy, hit the remote button,” Alissa advised.

Amy did as she was told, and the door to the cage quickly closed.

Leah couldn’t help smiling as she watched Amy follow Alissa to the cage. She could see that Alissa was explaining to her how to gently take the bird and put it in the small sack.

“We caught our first hummingbird.” With a look of sheer joy, Amy held up the bag as they returned to the porch.

The first thing Alissa did was call out the number on the band so Linda could write it on the chart. Then all eyes were on the hummingbird as Alissa gently removed it from the cloth bag and put the bird into the small cut-out end of a nylon sock. “This,” she explained, “makes it easier to handle the hummer and also helps keep the bird calm.”

Everyone watched closely as she carefully crimped the band around the hummer’s right leg and then took the rest of the measurements. This hummingbird was an immature male with only two little gorget feathers on its throat. The feathers resembled two red dots. After that, Alissa called each measurement out so that Linda, with Leah’s help, could document the information.

“Carrie, now that I’m all done, how would you like to hold a hummingbird?” Alissa smiled as Carrie grinned shyly and nodded her head. “Just hold out your hand and be very still.”

Leah had tears in her eyes when she saw the look of joy on Carrie’s face as Alissa put the little bird into the palm of her hand. It seemed as if everyone held their breath, watching to see what the hummingbird would do. It sat there quietly for a bit, looking around; then all of a sudden, it flew into the trees where the little birds liked to perch.

Sara clapped her hands, and little Mark did, too, prompting the rest of them to do the same.

“And that, my friends, is how the process is done,” Alissa announced. “I think it went very well. Sometimes,” she added, “a hummingbird will get away from me before I can get all the information about it. So that’s why I band the hummer first. That way, if it gets away, at least we have it banded and can log the number into our data center.”

“Data center?” Amy asked. “What’s that?”

Alissa told them that all the information they compiled on the chart would be put into a large data system through an Internet site. “This system is assessable to all licensed bird banders, so if a bird is captured that has already been banded, they can check the computer for its information,” she explained. “They can find out where that bird was originally banded and compare all the other information. It’s exciting to capture a hummingbird and find out that it had been banded in another state.”

Little Mark eventually fell asleep on Sara’s lap, but everyone else watched the entire procedure; especially the girls.

After about two hours, more hummingbirds had been caught and banded—thirty-seven of them to be exact. Everyone got the chance to hold a hummingbird before it was released. Alissa further explained that she always tried not to have the hummingbirds in her possession for longer than three minutes, in order not to stress the birds.

Leah couldn’t believe how fast the morning had gone. It was good to see Amy smiling as she helped Alissa pack up everything and take it to her car.

“Thank you so much for inviting me.” Priscilla gave Leah a hug. “It was amazing. I’ll never forget this exciting event.”

“You’re welcome, but aren’t you going to stay long enough to have some refreshments?”

“I’d love to, but I need to run to the grocery store for a few things.” Priscilla thanked Alissa for a great experience and headed down the driveway on her bike.

“Unfortunately, I need to leave, too, and get this little guy home,” Sara added. “Thank you so much for inviting me and Mark. Like Priscilla said, it was a great experience.”

After that, Leah, the girls, Alissa, and Adam enjoyed talking and discussing the hummingbirds as they ate fresh vegetables with dip, crackers, and the homemade cheeseball Leah had made. They also enjoyed the Hummingbird Ring cake.

“Did you put hummingbirds in this cake?” Carrie asked, pointing to a maraschino cherry.

Leah smiled. “No, dear one. Those are cherries. The cake is just called a hummingbird ring.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Carrie giggled, and so did everyone else. But all too soon, the morning ended.

Leah glanced back at Adam, who was waiting on the porch with his nieces as she walked with Alissa to her car. It had been nice to see him relax and enjoy something so much. He actually seemed like a different person today. “I don’t know how I will ever thank you for giving us all such a wonderful experience,” Leah told Alissa. “The knowledge you have is incredible, and it was so interesting to learn the banding process. Next year if you’d like to come again, you’d be more than welcome.” After giving her neighbor a hug, Leah joined Adam and the girls on the porch, and they all waved until Alissa’s car was out of sight.

“I also have to get going, but I thank you for including us today.” Adam smiled—a genuine smile that showed in his eyes. “I sure enjoyed it. I know the girls did, too.”