Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 09:32:38 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Sherman Suter Subject: DC: Smithsonian hummingbirds [8 AM, Tues, 9 Dec] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Within a few minutes of arriving at the Ripley Garden about 0745 this morning (Tuesday, 9 Dec), I heard both hummingbirds and got a short glimpse of the Rufous in the NW corner of the garden (behind the first feeder). It soon shot over towards the willow with the second feeder, and then departed West over the top of the A&I building. It did not return in the next several minutes, so I wandered over to the Haupt Gardens (W of A&I and S of the Castle), where I found both hummingbirds in the vicinity of the orange tubular flowers around the Independence Ave gate. The Rufous was moving back and forth between the flowers and the tops of several nearby trees (where it would perch and vocalize). The Black-chinned seemed to be staying closer to the cover provided by the shrubs along the S wall of the garden. A couple of minutes after 8 AM the Rufous darted after the Black-chinned and both climbed steeply up above the orange flowers and disappeared off to the NW. Among the few birds present in the Ripley Garden yesterday (Monday, 8 Dec) morning between 0800 and 0815 were a pair of Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers (male, female); both of which made short visits to the willow that holds the second hummingbird feeder. Sherman Suter Alexandria VA 22307 ssuter at aaas.org ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================