I called
Annabelle last evening, she says "hi" to all her facebook and blog
friends she never met but loves dearly. She thanks everyone for the cards and
gifts, they, and thoughts of you, cheer up her room. She was extra excited for
me to call this week because she had really fun news that she wanted to tell
everyone ... If you're new to the blog, Annabelle bird is a long time dear
friend in PA who taught me much about birds, wildflowers and heirloom plants.
We have a lot of history together. For years I had a bluebird trail on her farm
which I monitored by horseback. She would stop me as I rode past her porch for
a detailed report each week. When we moved to VA in '06 I kept in touch weekly.
About a year ago dear Annabelle moved to a nursing home and now she looks
forward to our chats even more. I tell her about the VA birds and she tells me
about the PA birds.
Our phone visits
usually start out with the details of the birds visiting the feeders outside
her nursing home window. Not to much going on there right now she said, just
the normal Chickadees, a few Juncos, House Finches and Gold Finches. I told her
it is really warm here, too and our feeders have about the same attendance, but
we get a few Cardinals and Red Breasted Nuthatches, too. We agreed the warm weather and abundance of natural food had our feathered friends enjoying nature's bounty in the wild.
There's a local
radio show that Annabelle listens to each Saturday morning all about local
birding. In past years we had both been regular callers, and of course
listeners, but sadly the station does not stream on the internet so I've not
heard the show in 6 years, but Annabelle usually gives me the highlights each
week.
 |
| Rufous Hummingbird |
Well this week's
highlight was all about Hummingbirds in Berks and Lancaster Counties, PA in
December! … There were several (7) "confirmed" sightings of Rufous
Hummingbirds at feeders, December 11 – 15! I know folks are reading this in
places far from PA and where it stays much warmer year round, but it gets
mighty chilly in PA by December and Hummingbird sightings are very rare indeed
by November! Many folks who feed, though, will keep feeders up through November
for the stragglers.
But a Hummingbird sighting in mid December is something
extraordinary for sure! Of course any sighting of a Rufous Hummingbird in PA is
worth getting excited about as they are rare there anytime.
 |
| Allen's Hummingbird |
And there was
even more December, Hummingbird news from PA that Annabelle had to share. There
were 3 sightings of the very rare indeed Allen's Hummingbird, too!! I had
to go to Cornell Lab of Ornithology to even read about it so I could tell you!
They say, "Extremely similar in appearance to the widespread Rufous
Hummingbird, the Allen's Hummingbird breeds only along a narrow strip of
coastal California and southern Oregon." …. What was this little fellow
doing in PA in the winter? How did he get there? Both the Rufus and Allen's
sightings were confirmed by several very knowledgeable birders and one of the
Rufus and the Allen's were even banded! Wow!
The most common
Hummingbird on the East Coast is of course the Ruby Throated, and in the summer
months Robbie and I hang plenty of feeders and have as many as 50 of the flying
jewels on our porch at a time here in VA. We always keep a few feeders up until
the end of November … Next year we'll keep them up until New Years!
Some very
exciting and unexpected news from Annabelle, for sure. And to add a twist to
this story … Yesterday during Coffee Clutch with Kessy and the gang I had asked
Kessy how many weeks yet until the Hummingbirds returned … It was that thought
that made me call Annabelle yesterday.
Gitty Up
Dutch Henry
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