Fastest Things On Wings by Terry Masear

"People feel so tightly bound to hummingbirds that the birds become miniature mirrors. In urban communities throughout Los Angeles, hummingbirds are the poster children for primal innocence, both theirs and ours. They symbolize the beauty of pristine nature before human civilization came tromping into paradise with its rough, heavy boots and mucked everything up. And despite our ongoing interference, these fearless spirits continue living alongside us, serving as a reminder of what once was, and what can be. This is why their deaths, as small and insignificant as they may seem, have the power to drive the hard truth of our own mortality straight home. Because in the end, as much as we work to deny it, our fundamental condition is not so different from theirs." The author with these words perhaps explains why so many people in LA choose to bring injured and orphaned hummingbirds to her for rehabilitation but her incredible descriptions and loving depictions of individual birds she has cared for, give her readers a wonderful appreciation for these tiny magical creatures. I have viewed these extraordinary creatures dart and hover in my front yard, and marveled at their lovely colors but never have I thought to exert the dedication, time and effort this author gives to her extraordinary patients, and her subsequent emotional strength then to release them back into the urban wild, never knowing what becomes of them. I admire her immensely but realize that I would not have the strength to undertake what she has for so many years. I read this book with awe and now hope that others will as well. Awesome book about awesome creatures, human and birds alike.