Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 19:22:57 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Mary Ann Todd Subject: Black-chinned Hummer at Smithsonian MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I visited the Ripley Garden, next to the Arts and Industries bldg, on Saturday morning, and was able to get just a few photos of the hummer. See the photos at: http://odolep.com/Smithsonian%20Hummingbird/index.htm Bob Sargent of the Hummer/Bird Study Group Inc., identified the photos as a female Black-chinned, probably an adult. He cited the width of the inner web of p10, and the brownish tone to the crown, with a few green feathers thrown in. I never had time to videotape the bird. It would be nice to get some video footage. It usually, but not always, pumped its tail as it fed. On Saturday morning I arrived at 8:30. At 10 the bird appeared and fed for three minutes along the west wall, behind the red maple in the tiny island. It fed on the largest clump of purple salvia. When it left it towered high into the air, and headed northeast across the MALL towards Natural History. I assume it has a very lengthy route of flowers that it works. I bet it made a visit to the Ripley Garde before I got there. It would also be a logical place for it to roost. This reminds me of the first Selasphorus Hummer in DC about 20 years ago. Also not at a feeder. It was discovered at a tiny hedge of flowers next to the Red Cross HQ. We had to wait about 10 hours over 2 days to see it. It fed for two minutes, then flew straight up the center of a busy street and vanished. The flower stops must be some distance apart. This particular hedge type has tiny white flowers late into the year. I don't know the name of it, but it is common around downtown DC. Dave Czaplak ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================