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First hummer young of the year in NC



Dear All,

Yup, the time has come!  Late yesterday I encountered the first young
Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the summer in North Carolina.  I received a
call from friends down the road who were worried that they had a 'sick'
hummer.  It  turned out to be a young male who had probably just fledged
from a nest very close to their feeder.  What a relief!  He was very awkward
and tame but plenty healthy (maybe even almost too fat to fly?) and knew
quite well what their Perky Pet Four Fountain was for...

And then today I set up and banded at Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature
Preserve where I caught 11 birds in a few hours.  To my delight there was
steady activity at the feeders while I was there.  Eight of the hummers were
new birds and two of the three recaptures were from earlier in May.  The
third recapture was a female I had seen before this season but had been
originally banded as a youngster in 2000.  Interestingly the final bird that
entered the trap was an immature female.  She still had grooving on 100% of
her bill and the cries of a young bird but had almost all of her body
feathers.  But probably the best find was made by Scott Hartley, the
superintendent at the park, who spotted a female hummer finishing off a new
nest right over where we were standing to operate my trap (Nest #2?) next to
the Visitor's Center.  Wow!  What a day!!

I certainly look forward to 'surveying' the birds here in my yard tomorrow.
Hmmm, guess I better hang up a few more feeders too...

Good hummer watching!

Susan Campbell
Whispering Pines, NC