Barbara Farron asked yesterday what the status of the various other hummers in
the area was.
I am pleased to say that the adult male Rufous Hummingbird which was visiting a
feeder not far from my home has not been seen since Jan. 5. We believe and
hope it moved further south w/the front that came in later that day. On the 5th
and the days leading up to that it (those were pretty mild days) it made
frequent feeders to three dif. homes, we hope in anticipation of migrating. I
must admit it finally decided to visit the feeders at my house right before it
migrated - this definitely made my day! It also showed up the day of the
Calmes Neck CBC, the first time I have ever had the opportunity to bird the
sector that includes my own house.
Mary Gustafson banded it on Dec. 7 (the photos of it are fascinating as they
show a substantial snowfall in the back ground - something one does not
normally associate w/hummingbirds). She said it was definitely an adult male
and in good shape. By then we had already had temperatures in the low 20's &
it seemed to be doing well. By then nothing was blooming nor had been for some
time (but pansies). It first showed up at my neighbor's feeder about Nov. 1 -
they are very private people and we didn't hear about it until a couple of
weeks after that.
Mary told us that several people conjecture that most of the hummers who show
up in our area in the winter usually migrate south to the gulf, most leaving
our area by early January. At the appropriate time they begin their migration
west & north.
All of us hope it will return next year.
Another hummingbird showed up in November at the same house in Hamilton where
an immature female Rufous Hummingbird was banded two years ago. It also
appeared to be an immature female but did not remain around long enough be seen
by an exp'd birder, let alone banded.
Joe Coleman, near Bluemont
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