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OOPS Hummingbird location



Hello CarolinaBirders,

Sorry, I did forget to enclose my location. I live near Clemson, SC on Lake
Hartwell. Our lot is very wooded with lots of bushy cover. We also are very
protected from strong winds so I hope  this helps them survive this cold
spell.I last saw the male @ 5:10 tanking up at two  recently warmed
feeders....then flying into a thick hedge of Buford holly.  I did not see
the female today, but my neighbors said they saw her a few times starting
very early this morning. I too suspected the male is a Rufous, but I can
not positively identify him...he is very skittish ...much more so than our
summer Rubies. Even the others birds scare him away. The female seems very
light to me compared to the Ruby-throateds we have in the summer.
As best as I can remember they came about two weeks after our last "Rubies"
left. I did not keep my feeders up because I knew I would be away so much
and my neighbors were feeding them. They did not come to their feeders very
often, but there were many flowers in bloom until Christmas week..I think
our first killing frost came Dec. 21 when  we left for Ohio. I even had
Pineapple Sage in bloom that I had been covering on cool nights....lots of
Impatiens loaded with flowers too. We saw the Hummers sitting in the
Camelias (Sasquana) quite often earlier in the autumn. The female feed at
my neighbors red impatiens under her feeder.

Anyway, we are trying to help them to survive the winter and are enjoying
them too! I will keep in touch.

I had another interesting birding event on Mon. afternoon. I heard a bird
or birds screeeching and fussing...it became so intense that I decided to
investigate. A small hawk and a Blue jay were doing battle ...tumbling in
some English Ivy until the hawk had a good hold on the BJ. They were almost
the same size. Athough I froze in my tracks, the hawk spotted me and flew
off. At first the BJ was stunned but did fly off with another Blue jay that
came to add to the noise. I think the hawk was a Sharp-shined due to the
small  size. (I only had a fleeting look).

Happy birding!

Kaye t Fenlon
Clemson,SC
Ktfenlon@mindspring.com