Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 18:50:37 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Frank Powers Subject: SI Hummer MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable For the first minute or so after my arrival at 1:15pm this afternoon, = there was no sign or sound of any bird in the Ripley Garden. But as I = walked by the Silver Bell tree, a hummingbird-like agitated sound came = from the bush behind the Mirabillis (sp?) which soon turned out to be, = indeed, a hummingbird. It rose to the top of the Mirabillis and perched = there for a good 15 minutes, puffing its feathers against the 19f cold = until it was as round as a golf ball. And that made it difficult to compare to the one I saw there last Monday = during the relatively balmy 29f weather. While I got a much longer and = better look at this probable Selasphorus Hummingbird (not Ruby-throated, = not Black-chinned), the light was not great and its puffed feathers made = it hard to compare specific features, especially the extent of the = rufous on its flanks or in its tail. It kept its primaries cocked at a constant 45-degree angle from its tail = making it hard to gauge their comparative lengths (the one time it did = bring the primaries down to its tail, the tail appeared to be a bit = longer). It only flew off once to the feeder, and very quickly at that, = so there was no chance to get a good view of its tail feather-tips, or = to see if it had the notched tail feather of a Rufous. I did get to = examine the undertail coverts quite a while, and could not find the = rufous coloring that I remember that the December imm. female Rufous had = so clearly (this bird's appeared to be white; but that could have been = due to the poor light). However, the large spot near the center of its throat/gorget, with = scattered, less distinct ones to the sides (color in that light couldn't = be determined) and its grungy-looking white on the chest leads me to = believe it was the same Hummer that I saw Monday. Given how it stayed scrunched down on its perch, with feathers puffed = up, it was impossible to see if it had a band on its legs. Heck, it was = impossible to tell if it legs at all. ...but it was a hummingbird. And there was no cat around. Good birding, Frank Powers Fingerhut, Powers, Smith & Associates 202/331-3700 =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 =========================================================================