Hummingbird Festival

Last weekend, Charles and I traveled to Holly Springs for the Hummingbird Festival...After winding our way around to the parking lot, finding a parking spot, and finding a seat to be transported to the festivities, we got to the tagging station only to learn that they hadn't caught any hummingbirds yet. Although I was a little disappointed, we learned about the capturing, bagging and tagging process...We learned that they set up these cages with feeders inside to catch the hummingbirds for tagging...We then walked around and saw all kinds of eagles...and other birds...and other animals living in this area. We even got to pet a snake...We then made our way to the house's conservatory where we were finally able to see a few hummingbirds...I enjoyed watching them eating...and playing. While we did see some hummingbirds, we didn't catch them on a good year when hundreds of hummingbirds stop here during their migration...that would surely be an amazing sight!
After watching the hummingbirds for a bit, we walked around the grounds...and looked at some pretty native flowers... We then went to the hummingbird tent where we learned more about their migration...and watched a film on the tagging process. Here he is blowing on the hummingbird through a drinking straw; this ruffles their fluff and lets the expert learn how much fat the hummingbird has...After the interesting film, we checked out the crafts fair and then headed back to the tagging station. We were in luck. They had bagged a hummingbird and were going to tag it...He first showed us the tiny tag he was going to use on the hummingbird...

Then he took the hummingbird out of the bag...

and began the tagging process...

We saw him blow on the little hummingbird through the straw and learned that this adult female was in good shape for her migration. We also watched as he held her by her toes so that he could place the tag around her leg. It was really interesting to watch and learn about this procedure. After the tagging was complete, he handed the hummingbird to another hummingbird expert who told us more about hummingbirds, answered more questions and allowed us all to take many pictures! He was really nice, informative and patient...
It was really neat to see a little hummingbird that close up...He showed us the hummingbird's little fluffy fat...and the tiny little tag on the hummingbird...
Then he let us feel the hummingbird's heartbeat...While I don't think that I actually felt the heartbeat (it is supposed to beat really fast) it was neat to feel the little fluffy hummingbird!

It was then time to release the hummingbird. He let this little girl do the honors. He told everyone to be really still and then placed the hummingbird in her open hand...

The hummingbird sat there just a little bit...

and then flew away. I was so glad that we were able to experience the tagging and release! We had such a great time!