The Spider That Caught a Hummingbird

The Spider That Caught a Hummingbird


When I went out at noon to check on the hummingbird feeders and refill them, I glanced out the living room window.

There was a hummingbird fluttering in a very strange way and a spider was moving toward it.

So I ran out and grabbed the hummingbird just as the spider's front leg touched the bird's bill.
After a quick examination and removal of all bits of the web, I tried to release the hummingbird, but it more or less just lay there in my hand. I thought, uh, oh, the spider got to the bird and bit it before I extracted it from the web. But after another minute, the bird realized it was free and took off.

The hummingbirds have gotten used to peering at us through the living room window when their feeders are empty. I suppose they are trying to catch our attention to remind us to get on the ball and refill the feeders.

The little female hummingbird, unfortunately, got caught by a huge Writing Spider who had built a web that morning over the window.


And, no, I didn't get a picture of the hummingbird trapped in the web, or lying in my hand. Unlike news reporters/photographers, I felt there was a certain urgency to the situation and I prioritized the hummingbird's well-being over the possibility of a really cool picture. If I had stopped to get a camera, the spider would most assuredly have bitten the hummingbird and wrapped it up in more silk, stressing it further.

I just wanted to get the bird out of the web, cleaned up, and on its way without stressing it any more than it was already. So sue me. :-)

Anyway, that's the excitement for today!
---Amy

August 2009 begins

It's the beginning of August already and I'm going nuts trying to get things done. Thought I would get some actual writing done over the weekend but I had to work some overtime Friday night.

Then, I went down to the kitchen and found a small snake near our sink. I believe it was a baby rat snake, but still, it's not exactly something I wanted to find in the house. Tried to catch it and failed, so I can only hope it escaped back outside the way it came in.

And while I was working on catching the snake, I pulled all the pots & pans out of the cupboard where it slipped inside. Found a dead mouse. Probably what attracted it in the first place. So I spent the weekend sterilizing the heck out of everything in two cupboards instead of writing.

But today, in an attempt to show everyone I'm not exaggerating when I say we have a lot of hummingbirds I made a video and posted it on youtube (we go through 10 lbs of sugar a week, which is made into 7 or more gallons of sugar-water since they consume 1 gal per day or thereabouts). You can click on the link below to see the video, assuming youTube ever finishes processing the darn thing.
Hummingbird Video

I'm still waffling about what to write as far as a new book. And I'm editing a second paranormal (I'm on the second draft of that); a contemporary mystery (hopefully final draft of that); and a historical mystery (second draft).

I'd like to write another historical mystery, but the market for those is next to non-existant so I'm thinking maybe I should start on my next contemporary mystery. Except I just have this really good idea for that historical mystery (really, more of a historical suspense) and I would so love to do that. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

And lest I forget, I'm also working on a trailer for my first paranormal so that when it comes out, I'll be ready to promote until everyone is completely sick of me.