A few years ago I was lucky enough to visit Mindo in Ecuador, a small town famous for its local bird population. There on the edge of some forest is a hummingbird viewing area, a large open-frame wooden gallery with several feeders outside. I sat there for I don't know how long, utterly absorbed in these beautiful creatures - the day wasn't very bright, and with all the trees around it was almost gloomy inside the gallery, but the birds were glowing in the half light, flitting here and there like fairies, and sometimes momentarily flying into the gallery with us as they jostled with each other for feeding spots.

I remember one particularly enterprising bird had hit on the idea of claiming a whole feeder for itself, so while the others bickered and traded places, this one calmly perched on top of the feeder and chased away anyone else who got too close.

Absolutely magical.