It was a warm and windy day today, and I had fewer birds overall, which may be why we only saw two hummers today. Nancy and Kevin came to band, and some interested neighbors came to observe. They took down all the feeders except two, one in the front yard and one in the back yard. These they put into trap cages. Then we set up our surveillance with remote controls on hand to work the automatic doors. It didn't take long to get the first bird, but Nancy set it aside to wait for more. About 15 minutes later we got another. We waited and chatted and watched, but we didn't get another one, so Nancy went ahead and banded and marked the first two. She confirmed that both of them are Rufous, both female. One is older... she said it was definitely not a first year bird, but the second one is younger and was probably born last season. What a treat to get to hold one in my hand before it was let go! It felt like a single feather -- not a whole bird!
I have some pictures to share, and will be posting video as well. What a fun experience!
No comments:
Post a Comment