Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2003 11:15:00 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Frank Powers Subject: DC/SI Hummer MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable It appears the Black-chinned Hummingbird at the Ripley Garden is still = around. Got a brief look at a hummer at the hummer feeder hanging from = the willow tree a little after 10am this morning. It was definitely not = the Rufous Hummingbird. Its flanks were all white, no sign of = rufous/buff color. Dark head. Couldn't see much more, as it fed only = briefly, then took off toward the south. May have perched nearby, but = couldn't relocate it. Its call was a soft twittering, very unlike the = Rufous. I had heard it before I found it. When I arrived at about 9:35am, snow had piled up on both feeders, with = several inches covering the holes. The snow appeared undisturbed. = After clearing them, I waited awhile, then walked around the area, = including to the east of the Castle, without seeing anything other than = a Northern Mockingbird (it was in one of the conifers in Ripley Garden, = quietly moving upwards, eating snow as it went; then it flew over to the = magnolia where it remained out of sight, until it gave a cry and flew = within inches over my head, heading south). The probable Black-chinned showed up after about twenty minutes. The = wind began picking up, sometimes in gusts, with snow falling the entire = time. As one tourist/photographer in the area remarked, "a beautiful = day for pictures." And for being inside by a crackling fire. Keep warm, 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 =========================================================================