Date:         Sat, 6 Dec 2003 11:15:00 -0500
Reply-To:     Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Frank Powers <frankpowers@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      DC/SI Hummer
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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

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