Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 16:32:49 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Steve Huy Subject: Re: Hummingbird Nutrition MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I think part of it is that most birders seem to be very closed-minded about what birds should be where and when. We are fascinated by some of the most mobile creatures on earth, yet overlook this key feature when we are birding. Too often we are told by the "experts" that the yellow book says it can't be, or they are gone this time of year, or some similar excuse when we come up with something odd. But birds have wings and they sometimes use them and they can land in all the wrong places. In years past there have been times when I thought I saw or heard hummingbirds late in Fall or in the winter. But I always dismissed it as must have been something else or my imagination. Now I know better. We also tend to doubt the abilities of these birds. Was not all that long ago that people didn't believe hummingbirds could migrate across the Gulf. Many birders get set in their ways and seem to reach a point where they ignore their ideas or even common sense. I was once told by some prominent Maryland birders that saw-whets only migrate along the coast or in Garret County and that I would never catch anything more than a few lost vagrants where I now band. Every season I drink a beer to that wise advice, 1200+ saw-whets later! Birders simply were not looking for hummingbirds in winter, so we'll never know if they were here or not. Or for how long. Same with saw-whets, birders claimed to look and that they weren't to be found, but none ever did a good job of it. Now we know they are here. Keep your eyes open for them. Make sure they are not dismissed on your counts. Listen to the crazy reports of novice birders, they may be better observers in their ignorance than some experts. And thank people like Iliff and Stasz for doing some real looking and documenting as many oddities as possible. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================