Bound to Wander in Wonder

 

Anna's Hummingbird, Elk Glen Lake

A hummingbird rests on the tip of a lichen-crusted twig, thanks to the binding energy of the gluons that hold quarks together. In a world of objects that possess a quality we call "mass," it's interesting to note how difficult it is to conceptualize why anything has mass, and what mass actually is. And yet, anything that has mass is what we call "matter," a substance that accounts for a mere five percent of the universe, and which, despite its mysterious qualities, is perhaps nowhere near as mysterious as the other ninety-five percent.

Despite the lowly status of ordinary matter in our universe, one of its key properties is that it can turn into hummingbirds.  

While I was wandering down online rabbit holes related to quantum vacuum fluctuations (one of which might have jump-started our universe) I came across a 2008 article in New Scientist that stated, "...[M]ost of our mass comes from virtual quarks and gluons fizzing away in the quantum vacuum.... The Higgs field creates mass out of the quantum vacuum too, in the form of virtual Higgs bosons. So if the [Large Hadron Collider] confirms that the Higgs exists, it will mean all reality is virtual."

Five years later, Higgs' existence was confirmed.

Saw my first Northern shovelers of the season today at Mallard Lake.

They both spent most of their time with their heads underwater, but the female was especially voracious and I wasn't sure I'd ever get a photo of her pretty face.

This little orange-crowned warbler (also my first of the season) scampered down through blackberry vines, ivy, and other plant cover to reach a popular roadside bathing pool created by a garden sprinkler at Blue Heron Lake.

A Townsend's warbler was surprisingly tentative about bathing in my presence, even though I was sitting on the curb on the other side of the road.

Unfortunately, the diffuse light of a hazy morning meant slow shutter speeds and lots of focus-hunting, so this was my best shot of a bathing ruby-crowned kinglet whose crown actually showed.

A demure yellow-rumped warbler was even more tentative than the Townie and refused to come down to bathe at all.

It was the numerous pygmy nuthatches at the bathing hole that first caught my attention.

Cars, bicyclists, and joggers often passed by and temporarily caused the birds to flee. I cringed as I watched one of the nuthatches try to race across the path of a passing car. I hoped to see it emerge on the other side, but unfortunately it didn't make it. I was relieved to see that it was at least killed outright instead of just being injured, and I moved its body off the road (next picture).

Another ruby-crowned kinglet caught bathing.

A nasturtium leaf provides bathing decor.

Elsewhere on the lake, a couple of old coots were hanging out like bumps on a log.

A few ring-necked ducks paddled around with the coots and more numerous mallards, all of whom appeared to expect treats to be tossed by any dawdling humans.

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