Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2003 10:13:53 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Frank Powers Subject: Black-chinned Hummer (& friend?), S.I. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable The hummer was present this morning at the Ripley Gardens between the = Hirschorn and Arts & Industries museums. Ron Staley of Herndon had been observing since about 7:30am, and had two = hummers perched near each other (and may have gotten video) in the = shrubs by the A&I building. They both "appeared to be the same," he = said. When I arrived at 8:50am, it was just in time to see one chase = another off (but at that speed, all I could distinguish were the sounds = of Hummer "conflict" and two blurs). =20 One, which seemed to be an immature male, remained in the area for the = next 40 minutes, alternating between many minutes of perching, to many = minutes of feeding actively on the various flowers. When perched, it = offered excellent views in the bright sunlight, frequently preening & = scratching, with the opportunity to see its features and colors from = many angles. At one point, the sun glinted off a single metallic-like spot on its = throat. This bird's throat had a pattern of "dots" on it. Its sides = were buff, with the same color above and below its tail. It had a = "broken" eye-ring, with white behind its eyes. Beak was long, decurved = and seemed rather thicker than a Ruby-throat. It's crown had a grayish = color to it. Behind its beak and before the eyes (forgive me, but I = forget what that areas is called), it appeared to have a spot of buff = color. Its back was mainly greenish, interspersed with that same = golden-buffy color. Its call sounded different from a Ruby-throat. And, it flicked its tail = frequently at one time when perched (many other times it sat quietly, = moving only its head rapidly as it surveyed its territory). It seems to = have some "weight" to it, appearing rather round, not unlike a Hummer's = weight-gain as it prepares for migration. It did not feed from the Hummer feeder while we were there, 'tho it = spent a good portion of its time in that tree. In the same area was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Parking at that hour was not a problem. Could have been the very windy = and chilly conditions. During the entire time (both Ron's and mine) no = other birders came by. If you get the chance, it's quite a treat! Frank Powers Glen Echo, MD Montgomery County frankpowers@comcast.net =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================