Today, on 30 March 2023, my mom and I took a walk in Shadow Cliffs Regional Park (or Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area) in Pleasanton, CA. Something surprising happened! We spotted a hummingbird in one of the bathrooms (more about this later in the post). I mostly took these 2 photos to show the park staff, but I have an interesting story to accompany this. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos and reading my story.
I was not really planning on taking any photos today, but that hummingbird in the bathroom popped up. I went into the bathroom to pee, but I heard chirping and noise from above. I looked up, there was a hummingbird. It kept flying around erratically and into the skylight. I immediately went to the stall next to it to do my business, but I couldn't just leave the hummingbird there helpless. (I have been a vegetarian for over 2 years now due to religious reasons. ☯️ I wouldn't purposely kill an animal, and I don't eat meat. It would be hypocritical of me to leave a helpless bird in the bathroom.) My mom and I examined the bird for a while, and it still kept flying around the skylight very erratically, not knowing how to get out. I looked down, there is definitely some bird poop, so I'm guessing its been there for a while. My mom and I tried to get it down with a really long branch we found nearby, but we failed to get it down. We were hoping the hummingbird would stand on the branch, so we can slowly lower it and help it out of the bathroom. I looked around for a ranger, but couldn't find one. I ended up calling the East Bay Parks Police Dispatch (Non-Emergency Number: 510-881-1833) to report it. Since there is not much else my mom and I can do, we continued our walk in the park. I originally took these 2 photos to show the ranger, but we didn't find one.
After we were done walking in the park, we went back to check on the hummingbird (this was after an hour). We knew a ranger already checked on the bird as all of the bathroom stalls were locked, except the one the hummingbird is in. The hummingbird was still there, and still flying around erratically and crashing into the skylight. My mom and I attempted once again to try to rescue it with the long tree branch we found earlier, but we still failed.
I felt quite troubled leaving it there, but there was nothing else my mom and I can do. We made one last attempt to find the park ranger since we knew he/she is nearby. I ended up finding the ranger's vehicle near the entrance kiosk, and soon after, the ranger. I checked in with him giving him some information about how long that hummingbird has been there, and what my mom and I tried to do to get it out of there. Unfortunately he was not able to catch the bird either. He told me he was hoping the bird can fly out on its own, or the other plan is to wait until it gets dark, and hopefully he will be able to catch the bird. Seeing how caring the ranger was, I felt a lot more at ease about leaving. I feel bad for the ranger though, because I think he's going to have to work over time today.
This is all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.
