It has been some time since I addressed the mysterious connection between
hummingbirds and electrical engineering, but have lately gathered some apposite insights. These come after Norma's recent (Saturday's) photos of flying surveillance devices --mainly this one:
The bright red spot on what naturalists call the "neckal area" cannot be anything other than a l.e.d. (light emitting diode) diffused by feathers but still indicating a spying device is running. Consider also this schematic from
DIY House Wiring And Hummingbird construction with special attention to the addition of a spy camera:
Ok, I know I've overreached the purview of the naturalist, or do I mean naturist? I think you have to be naked for one or the other but forget which (note to readers in community colleges: if your prof. is reluctant to specify the difference, do not participate in class field trips) . So let's proceed with Norma's photos of this device. Here, the l.e.d. light is less in evidence:
And why are my paragraphs and illustrations no longer justifying on this page register? I've tried to fix it but can't and it's late. Let's continue on the premise that technology is fundamentally flawed. I mean, there is nothing complicated about putting one paragraph or picture directly under another, yet this computer in all its 10-year-old sophistication is unable to do it tonight --even though any human 10-year-old has no such problem.
I am left with a series of pictures of this surveillance device that follow its personal preference for aerial convolutions and the freedom they epitomize --liberty from the illegitimate interests of snoopers:
You can see him rising over the pumphouse, climbing the sky and diving back again in sheer joy.
Resisting the invasive machineries of paranoid governmental agencies finally dedicated only to (and funded toward) their own perpetuation is a stubborn enterprise, but the universe is a tremendous thing. How could it install such pluck, enterprise, independence and joy into a bird no bigger than a sparkplug and be less?
Indeed, your rhetorical question is worth holding in mind. Sometimes it seems as if the universe if filled with bubbles, each representing an experience. Enter that bubble, and a whole new universe of wonder is revealed.
ReplyDeleteLike suds, yes. Bubbles have geometric centers, do suds? An enigma!
DeleteAnd the joy which watching these pocket dynamos induces is HUGE.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! They flit about and scold me in tones I can barely hear, then perch and watch me from a few feet away.
DeleteI've come to the conclusion that your thoughts and musings are absolutely delightful whether or not your paragraphs and illustrations justify on the page register.
ReplyDeleteYou've given hummingbirds an entirely new perspective - - not to mention providing me with bright smiles on a gloomy morning. And you've given me good reason to ponder the difference between naturists and naturalists.
When you find a naked one, ask him or her which kind wears clothes or vice versa. I need this settled.
DeleteOh I love the humour in this. It is humour right?:) :) Spy device indeed. B
ReplyDeleteOh there's no doubt these little guys are doing detail work for the universe.
DeleteAmazing little creatures. That humming gives away their mechanical secret though.
ReplyDeleteSometimes they fly right behind my head and sound a rubbery thrum with their wings --very like an engine.
DeleteI must say those are the cutest drones in history. And those are some fantastic shots by the way! Not east "drones" to capture photographically.
ReplyDeleteNorma can get really close to them because they're used to her. They like her white hair, I think.
DeleteThose last two sentences almost made me cry with happiness. Not happiness, really. That something else. Pride? Hope? A sense of the truly invincible? The one where all four mix together and leave you without the perfect word?
ReplyDeleteHummingbirds are brave little things. I don't know the word you want but it would mean courage comes in all sizes.
DeleteI always suspected that hummingbirds were something other than the beautiful little birds that hovered at flowers defying gravity. Thank you for clearing it up for me.
ReplyDeleteAnything that is able to fly backwards not only works for the government but sometimes IS the government.
DeleteHe looks like a rather big hummingbird, though. Is he equipped with extra storage space or something?
ReplyDeleteHe just flies up real close, about neck-level, sort of like if Dracula turned into hummingbird instead of a bat --makes him look larger.
DeleteSo when did the black helicopters first descend on you? How long have you been part of the evil government-sponsored conspiracy, yes, conspiracy! to subjugate poor animals to wretched research!!
ReplyDeleteUm, I ask because I've got a column overdue for the local rag, and I need some material....much obliged.
Excellent deductions! Yes, I've been part of the project since we mounted crude hand-cranked movie cameras on Pteranodons, which had a wingspan of 20 feet. Then came the breakthrough theory of miniaturization by "making things smaller", and I withdrew from the conspiracy because of cyber-ignorance. But better minds continued the research --some even finished grammar school!
DeleteA genuinely magical species, no doubt about it. I do believe, though, the sketches were plagiarized from Tesla's notebooks.
ReplyDeleteDang, I'm busted!
DeleteIf this comes to pass and is verified, I am buying a pellet gun. Lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan! Fortunately for the little birds, I haven't been able to verify any electronic devices on their persons. They're too quick for me.
DeleteAmazing photos! We have quite a few in our yard. I saw one perched on a branch recently - didn't seem like an extraordinary thing until it occurred to me that one rarely does. They hide themselves away pretty well when not in flight.
ReplyDeleteIt takes a while for them to understand you're not a threat. Once they get that, they'll fly right up to you --from behind at first, then from any direction. They may have nests nearby.
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