I took an afternoon foray into the cold, a little after 2:00 p.m., to check
on the Smithsonian hummingbirds. I spent about 10 minutes in Ripley with
only one brief sighting; it was fairly shady at this time of day in the
areas around the feeders. I then walked over to the Haupt garden, where I
briefly ran into Jim Felley. We watched the Rufous for several minutes,
perching in "her" Magnolia tree to the right of the Sackler gallery
entrance, occasionally popping into the air to hawk for insects. The pots
of Lion's Mane are still out, and probably will be all weekend. I lost
track of the Rufous for about 10 minutes or so. As I was preparing to
leave the garden, in a bit of serendipity, I ran into Victoria Dawson, one
of the writers for SMITHSONIAN magazine. She spotted me lurking near the
Magnolia with my binoculars and said, "You're not looking for the
hummingbirds, are you?" I said, "Why, yes, I am!" She mentioned that they
are considering writing a little blurb about the hummers, and I of course
encouraged her in this endeavor.<g> Fortunately, the Rufous returned
before we finished talking, so Victoria was able to get a close look at her
using the Lion's Mane. I walked back through the Ripley garden on my way
back inside, but saw no sign of the Black-chinned.
Laura Farron
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