In my neck of the woods, we have had a very interesting spring and summer this year. We have a unique climate, with four complete seasons, very hot summers and equally cold winters. You would think that the seasons would stay pretty consistent, but that’s not always the case.
It’s not abnormal to have spring-like weather in the dead of winter and this year, we had summer in spring, and now we have spring in summer! It’s hard to keep up with all of the changes, and keeping up-to-date with the daily weather is necessary.
Though it’s clear now and the sun is finally out, the last few weeks were extremely rainy. We had more rain in three weeks than we sometimes have in an entire summer. This meant flooded roads and for some people, even flooded basements and lower levels of their homes.
Rain can be awful when it causes damage or ruins something you were hoping to do outdoors like a party or sporting event. Days of rain can ruin a carefully planned vacation. But, for the folks visiting the beautiful tropical paradise in this video, the rain actually produced something special that they would never have seen, otherwise.
They were visiting the Asa Wright Nature Centre, Trinidad and Tobago, when there was a sudden downpour. As they watched the hummingbirds flitting about, the rain enhanced their experience. The tiny birds rested on a branch and appeared to be enjoying the sudden shower. They bask in the rain, then they open up their tail feathers as if trying to clean those, too.
“We were watching these hummingbirds in Trinidad when all of a sudden, strong rain began,” the videographer explained.
“We found shelter and then noticed the White-necked Jacobins were sitting out on an exposed branch obviously enjoying the rain shower.”
For once, we can see a hummingbird’s wings — usually, they are moving so quickly that they are a complete blur. The tiny, very active birds sit mostly still, allowing viewers to get a close look at their beautiful feathers.
It is rare to see hummingbirds resting, as they tend to move constantly, looking for nectar to satisfy their incredibly fast metabolisms. They may be the tiniest birds on the planet, but it takes a lot of calories to keep their wings flapping at close to 8o times per second and their tiny hearts beating at 72,000 beats per hour.
Watch these amazing birds in action in the video below!
