a sad one

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Lindsay holding weak hummingbird

This blog's last post ended with such hope.

But not all boxes can be tied up with a red ribbon; not all stories have happy endings. 

The rescued hummingbird flew from my hand eventually making her way high into a bald cypress by the Plaza Pond at Ijams. But a short time later, she was found sitting on a table below the cypress in obvious distress. Sammi, a volunteer named Lindsay and I fed her sugar water she lapped from our hands. She seemed to slowly recover, blinking her eyes, swallowing and even revved her wings.

Lindsay spent more time with her, feeding her and reported that the little hummer flew short distances until she finally settled on the ground, promptly dying. 

The wondrous, little thing was never able to get her nuclear engine going again. The ordeal of being trapped inside, high in the rafters of the Visitor Center just took too much out of her.

Keep in mind that Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings The Yearling ended badly as well. Despite Jody's best efforts, Flag couldn't survive either. 

Sometimes you do all you can do but it just isn't enough. 

This one won't make it to Costa Rica after all.

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