Sparkle Dad
I wrote this blog post about the day Frances’ chicks launched from the nest in 2020, but haven’t published it until today, 2/22/2025…
It was about 7pm. I was letting the camera fill up with nest footage while hanging out in the back yard to give the Chicks some space for big things.
The light was entering Golden Hour, and our back yard was glowing green in the setting sun. A hummingbird zipped into view, and followed the path to the Cedar in the top left corner. I’d trimmed it’s lower branches a couple of weeks ago, planning to create a secret sitting spot under our biggest tree. An orange House Finch couple is sitting on a nest at the top for the second year in a row.
The hummingbird hovered next to the trunk and slowly rose like a drone up into the branches. My first thought was that it was another nest, and that I couldn’t imagine having more babies next to the Garden Office. Seriously?! What kind of sorcery is this?
I followed the path and scaled the weed patch behind the shed to get a closer look, and there it was. The hummingbird was dangling. Perfectly centered in the trunk from a tiny branch I’d left intact. It held perfectly still. Now this tiny Narwhal/Pegasus could add Bat to it’s parts. Hummingbirds are seriously the of most mystical living creatures I’ve gotten to be around.
I’d heard of this state Hummingbirds put themselves in for sleeping. It’s called Torpor. It’s a chance for them to catch some deep zzzzzz’s after buzzing around in their fighter jet bodies all day. Their heart rate and metabolism slows to a crawl and they benefit from a mini hibernation session.
I recorded about an hour of this tiny sleeping beauty. From my safe distance, I assumed it was Frances. She must be resting up for Launch day tomorrow. I loved the idea of her tucking the kids in one last night and then finding her magic spot to dangle and recharge. I peeked at the Chicks one last time before bed, and they were snuggled together in the nest.
I got up around 7:30 on April 16th and headed out to the porch to put my phone on the tripod, and the nest was gloriously empty. It’s fuzzy feathers were blowing in the breeze like the curtains of an open escape window.
I felt an instant wave of excitement and relief. I was so happy the Chicks had made their way out of the nest, and loved it even more because nobody had been watching. No show. No pressure. Just go.
I headed out back to check on where the Hummingbird had been sleeping, assuming I’d see an empty spot where she had rolled out of bed and gone to pick up the Chicks for their big day… but the bird was still dangling. Motionless. Still. And it wasn’t Frances.
I skootched past the Trillium to get to the base of the trunk. At first glance, this Hummingbird had a black face. It was like charcoal, actually. It looked like a black mask hanging from his head. I decided to let him dangle and give him some more time to wake up. Later in the afternoon, though, he was still there.
I climbed back into the weeds with my camera and started taking pictures from different angles - and OMG. This bird had lights on his face. They turned off and on and moved through shades of bright magenta, purple, red and orange. He was AMAZEBALLS.
After doing some more research on Torpor, I was sure this bird had died peacefully in his deep sleep.
I hadn’t seen any sign of Frances and the Chicks all day. With the weirdness of death in the backyard, I’ll admit I felt a little uneasy about them. This all seemed strange, and I wondered if I’d ever see them again. Was some strange global catastrophy ramping up a notch and taking out all the Hummingbirds today? Thanks to my anxiety brain, this felt like a real possibility for a minute or two.
I felt Mother Earth smiling at me as she shifted focus from my empty nest to an up-close and personal introduction to Sparkle Dad. The alignment of his passing and the Chicks leaving the nest is so cool. One life coming to an end, and two new ones taking off on their own.
He’d been completely absent ever since I saw him and Frances getting frisky beneath the basketball hoop back in February. And now here he was. Ready for inspection. And photos. And proper burial, once we’d gotten a good look at him. When I brought him out into the light, his face was like a brilliant laser beam when seen from the right angle. It was spectacular. Unreal.
My little nature-loving neighbor was excited to take a look. We’d spent some time chatting from our porches yesterday, and she had told me all about turkey vultures. There happened to be 7 of them swirling over our houses just before she came outside. She’d taken her first peek at the newly occupied goldfinch nest in her little tree out front. She is more than a little into birds and bugs.
She loved Sparkle Dad. She loved his little feet, his fuzzy white buns, and his electric face mask. She inspected him as he lay on his crystal butter dish in the sunshine. After our impromptu science lesson, my little friend went home to her house. She really has the magic touch when it comes to turning up the birds - that’s when I heard the chirps.
I knew this sound from last year. The Chicks! There they were. Marlene was perched in our little dogwood tree and Marjorie had moved into a matching dogwood across the street. Frances was buzzing back and forth between them, bringing snacks and demonstrating how to find food in the flowers blooming in our yards.
I love that Marjorie launched on her namesake’s birthday. It’s all too perfect, isn’t it? My Grandma Marge turned 87 today. And here’s Margie tonight. She’s got her big-girl pants on, and she’s sleeping under the stars for the first time.
