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W-S Calliope Hummer (NC bird species #299)



Hi Carolinabirders,

After I forwarded directions to them, Brian Pendergraft and his friend
Matt were kind enough to drop by and pick me up at 7 this morning en route
from Raleigh, and we headed to Winston-Salem and Charles Williams' house.
According to Mr. Williams, the hummer is getting a bit less predictable
lately. However, it showed up eventually! We arrived there around 8:30 AM,
the bird joined us at 9:09. We were a little concerned that the hummer
looked too big for a Calliope, but size was, as usual, misleading; with
Brian's scope I saw one bright rosy little gorget feather in the corner of
his throat, and we all noted the short tail that ended at just about the
same spot as the wing tips. The critter fed twice in about five minutes,
then vanished, and had not yet returned by the time we decided to leave
half an hour later (9:40).

The Williams' yard was very birdy in general. They had a big, berry-laden
American Holly in their front yard that was driving the robins and
waxwings crazy. A couple of goldfinches attempted to drink from one of
their hummer feeders. Plenty of woodpeckers, sparrows, and various other
normal winter residents.

That's my 299th North Carolina bird species! Now, where to look for #300?
California or Iceland Gull would work, but somehow don't thrill me quite
as much as a "milestone bird" ought to... Anybody out there got a Western
Tanager at their feeder?

Good birding,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/