Good morning and welcome to Summit Up, the world’s only daily column that is thinking about hummingbirds and —

MILLIONS OF SUMMIT UP READERS: Wait. Wait, wait, wait. That’s it. We’ve had enough. Approximately every day we sit down to read this column, and every day you jump right off the ship claiming to be the only daily column that is expecting the apocalypse, or changing its chai-purchasing habits or running out of coconut oil. And every day we politely sit here and read that crap without complaint. But no more! Because it is a big wide world out there and it is inexcusably silly for you to assume you are the only daily column thinking about hummingbirds, or purchasing a moped or ignoring advances from a sea turtle. There are probably lots of daily columns doing all those things all the time!

SUMMIT UP: So you’re right. We apologize for letting our metaphorically large heads get the better of us. We begin again, with a bit more humility this time:

Good morning, and welcome to Summit Up, a daily column which may be one of many that is thinking about hummingbirds. And we are thinking about hummingbirds because we happen to have just spotted one about seven inches from our nose the other night at a Breckenridge dining establishment (the hummingbird was dining on a flower outside of said establishment). Living in Summit County we’ve had the opportunity to see a wide variety of wildlife, including fox, birds, chipmunks, pika, moose, elk, osprey, deer and on one very memorable occasion when we were hiking alone a bear. But we have to say, there may be no other animal among the local fauna that is quite so delightful in the flesh (in the feathers?) as a hummingbird. And while we’re on the subject of our little green fluttery friends, did you know that —

Sound of Googling

— Hummingbirds can slow their heart and metabolic rate while they are sleeping, that they can fly up to 34 mph, live for more than 10 years and are the only group of birds that can fly backwards? We didn’t think so!

And if you want to see a hummingbird in action, we recommend the Hearthstone Restaurant in Breck, where the delicious scallops will call to you and the flowers on the deck will call to them, or the home of Katrina Ernst, 12, in Silverthorne. Katrina spotted a whole flock (school? pride? flight?) of hummingbirds outside her house recently and even snapped a picture from her tablet for us. She writes:

“Looking for hummingbirds? We have some and would be willing to share.”

Thanks, Katrina!

That’s bout all we’ve got for you today folks. Remember to keep sending us your alerts, musings and awesome photos by email at summitup@summitdaily.com or post it to our Facebook page at Facebook.com/summitdailynews.

We out!