Tweeters,

Saturday (22 May 1999), I took my usual hike to the crest of Rattlesnake
Ridge in the cool of the evening as we seem to have skipped spring and it
has become blazingly hot and summer almost overnight. Just as I was leaving
the irrigated orchards and crossing into the stony gulch to begin my
ascent, I noted a male Calliope Hummingbird in the bright purple masses of
purple sage (Salvia dorii), actually a mint. As if to make up for the very
meager spring flower show (dry winter and early spring here?) this year,
the purple sage bloom is quite a beautiful show this year. I stopped to
admire this little beauty and it obliged by coming real close and personal
and perched on the naked, burnt skeleton of a dead sagebrush only 3' from
me!

I also noted a number of large moths (sphinx or hummingbird moths with
sort of an orange patch where birds secondaries would be and brilliant
yellow longitudinal head stripes, like that of a Pseudemys turtle) probing
about the flowers. Another beautiful show.

I looked twice at the hummingbird just to make sure it was not a Costa's
Hummingbird. The "desert" wash here looks not unlike that of many Sonoran
or Colorado Desert washes where other species of Salvia provide an
important component in Costa's Hummingbird diets. As a Costa's was visiting
a feeder in the Vancouver BC area at this time; I fantasized of
encountering a one here.

Continuing uphill, I watched where I placed my feet carefully, as warm
evenings are when rattlesnakes might be active. None tonight, though.

I also noted my first Common Nighthawk of 1999 for this area.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato A