While driving home yesterday in my 2012 Nissan Maxima, I was thinking about the quickest, easiest dinner to fix for myself and my family. When I got home, however, I realized I had another problem entirely. I had gotten my first scheduled service visit from my Chicago Nissan dealer, and I thought I had finished everything on the agenda for the day.

Our back porch is screened, and upon walking outside to play with the dogs, I realized there was a very small intruder. Flying back and forth between the two ceiling fans on the porch was a hummingbird. Now, I have always enjoyed watching hummingbirds, as a lot of people do, but I was concerned about this one. He was in terrible distress, looking confused and basically flying around in circles. I vowed to check on him periodically, to see if he got himself out of the porch’s confines.

I threw some pasta and sauce together along with a salad for dinner, and afterward went back outside to check on my ward. He was still up there, so I got on my computer and did some research on how to get him out without harming him.

A quick internet search of the problem told me I wasn’t the only person who’d ever had this problem; as a matter of fact there were quite a few entries on the subject. So, I read through them all and tried to decide which method of getting him out was the best.

One suggestion was to gently usher the bird out with a towel or broom. So, I went outside and tried it. Because the ceiling is so high on the porch, however, I found it impossible to corral the quick little nectar-lover. Back to my bird removal research I went.

The next option sounded interesting, but I was doubtful. In it, a lady came home to find a hummingbird in a similar circumstance to the one on my porch. She had just gotten a bouquet of roses from her husband and she took them outside to attempt to lure the birds out. Amazingly, the little aviator came directly down to the roses and began to feed. The woman was able to gently take the hummingbird outside of the porch via the flowers.

I decided it was worth a shot, even though it sounded a little far-fetched. I drove my 2012 Maxima to the grocery store and picked up a bouquet containing roses and lilies. I reasoned that the lilies might work better than the roses, what with having a more hummingbird-friendly shape.

Parking the new Nissan in my drive, I went straight out to the porch to attempt to lure the bird out. At first, he just came down and looked at the flowers, while keeping a sharp eye on me. I decided to sit outside with the bouquet for a while, to try to acclimate him to my presence as well as the smell of the nectar he needed.

After about 10 minutes, I tried again, and I was amazed. The cute little bird with the helicopter wings came right down, lit on a lily and allowed me to gently lead him outside. Once he realized he was out, he took off, apparently happy to no longer be confined.

The next time I went to the Chicago new car dealership to get my 2012 Maxima serviced, I told them about the incident. Everyone was pleased that the bird lived, and they were happy the new Nissan Maxima was able to assist me in the process.

If you’re in need of a new or used Nissan, or if you need your existing Nissan serviced, head down to Western Avenue Nissan, located at 7410 Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60629. Their sales department can be reached at (877) 211-6924, and you can call their service department for a visit at (877) 292-5152 or schedule an appointment online. Visit them online at www.westernavenissan.com.