On Wednesday, I counted at least 20 different individual hummingbirds using my feeders. The past couple of days have produced at least 13 birds typically perched in sites easily observed. A couple of others have been spotted attempting to use feeders but not sitting in the yard.

 

The male Allen's is still being seen in Lakeland so Doreen will be coming back to Florida to band soon. Hopefully, we'll get a better look at a couple of my birds that may be Black-chinneds. 

 

A possible Western Tanager was reported yesterday by a neighbor so I'll be watching closely for it. I've put out cut oranges in hopes of attracting to an area where it can be easily viewed.

We suffered a hard freeze last Thursday that has damaged most of my flowing plants. The plus side of it is that most of them will come back in the spring but the down side is that many of them will not flower again this winter leaving the hummers no choice but to use my feeders. This also means that I have to be diligent in maintaining the feeders because they don't have flowers in case I allow one to go empty. It also means that we should have a much better opportunity for success if we get another chance at banding this season. Hopefully, we can confirm the identity of the female Rufous.

 

I hate to see the commercial loss due to freezes and, as was recently pointed out to me, there is some loss to the food sources for our wild birds as well but when given lemons, make lemonade. A freeze to me says get more feeders out. With the loss of blooms, hummingbirds feeding at flowers where there are no feeders will need to seek out new food sources. I typically see new birds entering my yard after a freeze. This week has been no exception. Lots of activity in the yard the past two days.

Go to TBO.com and type in keyword: "hummingbird" and then click on "Hummingbirds in Florida" to access an interview with Fred Bassett when he was last in my yard along with a number of photos taken that day by photojournalist Jim Reed. Or, this link should work: http://www2.tbo.com/static/special_reports/hummingbird/

Fred arrived on time ready to band hummingbirds. Unfortunately a mature oak fell in the backyard a half an hour before his arrival. Perhaps I should say fortunately as it fell just behind where Fred would have been sitting 45 minutes later. The tree's falling and the subsequent human activity assessing the damage was a definite distraction to the day's planned event.  

 

It was still too warm to expect too many birds to go into a trap but Fred was confident that we could lure the Rufous into the trap. But, it was not to be again. In the end, we banded three male Ruby-throateds.

 

A reporter and photographer from the Tampa Tribune were there to record the day's activity to tell the story in a future article. The articles ran today. They can  be read at (minus the photos):   

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jan/26/na-call-of-the-hummingbirds/news-metro/

 

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jan/26/na-want-to-hear-their-twittering-in-your-yard/news-metro/

 

On another note, An adult male Allen's has been reported in Lakeland (see the Lakeland Ledger article at:

http://www.theledger.com/article/20090125/NEWS/901250341/1410?Title=Hummingbird_Makes_First_Recorded_Appearance_in_Polk ) With the appearance of this bird, Doreen is expected to come down here to attempt to band him this week which means she'll likely be coming here for another attempt at my Rufous and other birds yet to be banded.

 

 

Fred Bassett will be here first thing tomorrow morning to once again try to catch the banded female Rufous in hopes of confirming her as the 6th year returning bird that was first banded here in November of 2003. He'll be bringing two traps including a Halls Trap. That's a new type for my yard. The Halls trap is a circular trap with a mesh curtain that drops down over a feeder. With this type of trap, the bird does not have to go into a cage. It goes under a circular disc and when it sits on the feeder, the mesh curtain is dropped in a manner similar to how the regular cage doors are operated.

 

I'm also still seeing the female Rufous we banded in December along with a number of Ruby-throateds. I'm holding out hope that at least one of my Ruby-throateds will turn out to be a Black-chinned. Of the Ruby-throateds, the one with the damaged bill that we banded in December is still around, even with the added damage it suffered a few days later, and at least two more adult males along with two females and 4 young males.

 

I'll try to post results tomorrow after the banding.