Hummingbird Fest is full of thrills, trills

Summer Story
by Mary Oliver

When the hummingbird
sinks its face
into the trumpet vine,
into the funnels

of the blossoms
and the tongue
leaps out
and throbs,

I am scorched
to realize once again
how many small, available things
are in this world

that aren’t
pieces of gold
or power-------
that nobody owns

or could but even
for a hillside of money-----
that just float
in the world,

or drift over the fields,
or into the gardens,
and into the tents of the vines,
and now here I am

spending my time,
as the saying goes,
watching until the watching turns into feeling,
so that I feel I am myself

a small bird with a terrible hunger,
with a thin beak probing and dipping
and a heart that races so fast

it is only a heart beat ahead of breaking------
and I am the hunger and the assuagement,
and also I am the leaves and the blossoms,
and, like them, I am full of delight, and shaking.

From Mary Oliver's book "Red Bird"

Learn about the hummingbirds who flit through Colorado from spring through summer on Saturday at the 19th annual North Cheyenne Cañon Hummingbird Festival. The colorful and informative festival is scheduled 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Starsmore Discovery Center, 2120 S. Cheyenne Cañon Road in Colorado Springs.

You can learn about these tiny birds and how to attract them to your yard, and even buy plants for your yard that are guaranteed to lure hummingbirds. In addition, you can join a guided bird walk, bid in a silent auction, and enjoy refreshments and live music. Activities are planned especially for kids.

There is no cost to attend the festival, but donations are accepted. Money collected goes toward  trail safety and maintenance and public activities at Starsmore.

Parking and bus shuttle transport is available at Cheyenne Mountain High School, 1200 Cresta Road.

Read more about the hummingbirds that visit our area in this Out There story inspired by the birds' spring visit in 2008.