A Couple of Birds

It's a perfect day.  What I mean is that the sun is shining and the temperature is warm.  And even though there's a stiff breeze, it's comfortable, not chilling.

This morning as Kim and I sat on the porch reading and watching the boat traffic.  We were suddenly aware of a buzzing creature approaching us on the porch.  I couldn't imagine what it might be, but initially I assumed it was some sort of bug, which frankly was a little scary, considering how loud it was.  But suddenly this thing stopped right in front of me and hovered.  It was a hummingbird.  Then, as if he wasn't already close enough, he flew onto the porch and hovered over the picnic table, just about 5 feet away from my head.  Then he flew away.

I can't ever remember being close enough to a hummingbird to hear the sound of it's wings.  It was louder, harsher really, than I would have expected, but now it's easy to understand how they got their name.

It's afternoon now, and Nate and I just got back from a walk.  We decided to go to the lighthouse.  It's one of those days when you know that there will be lots of boats in the water and long, clear views.  As we were heading that way, traveling along the edge of South Shore Drive, I looked up just in time to see a bald eagle fly across the road, just above the trees directly in front of us.  We have known that their population is on the rise in this area, but we haven't ever seen one, except from a great distance.  And so, on the same day as my up-close experience with the hummingbird, I got the best view I may ever have of bald eagle in the wild.