Mike, OBOLinks, and Tweeters,

On Sunday, March 26, I spent about 4 hours birding Point Roberts,
Whatcom Co., Washington, in mild, sunny weather. I did not see any
Rufous Hummingbirds. Usually, by this time of year, I can find 2 or 3
males in the area I visited. However, a local resident reported that
he had seen one or two Rufous Hummers at his house in the South Beach
area of Point Roberts. There has been a scattering of RUHU sightings
in the Vancouver, B.C. area.


For the record, the average arrival date for Rufous Hummingbirds
in the Vancouver area is March 20. My own personal "arrival dates" for
the last 10 years are as follows:

1990 March 29 Deas Island Park, Delta
1991 March 31 Point Roberts, Wash.
1992 March 23 Deas Island Park, Delta
1993 March 28 Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta
1994 April 1 Point Roberts, Wash.
1995 April 7 Sea Island, Richmond
1996 March 31 Point Roberts, Wash.
1997 April 2 Sea Island, Richmond
1998 March 19 Gibsons
1999 April 11 Point Roberts, Wash.

The 1999 date, and also the 1995 date, are probably not too
meaningful because of my prolonged absences from the Vancouver area.

Despite the lack of hummers, there should be lots of nectar for
them at Point Roberts when they do arrive in numbers. Indian-plum
(Osmaronia cerasiformis), although infrequently used by hummers, was
abundant and in full bloom. Red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum)
was rapidly approaching full bloom. It is uncommon on Point Roberts,
but every shrub was conspicuous at a distance by its blossoms. The
early RUHUs I often find at Point Roberts are usually in association
with this shrub. There were also lots of red-flowering currants in
full bloom in the
residential areas near South Beach. (This species is often grown as an
ornamental.)

The blooming status of salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) varied
considerably. Many shrubs barely had the leaf buds bursting, with no
sign of flowers. However, in some sheltered areas, shrubs were well
along in leafing-out, and some had dozens of flowers out. Overall, I
would say salmonberry flowering was less than 5% of full bloom.
Several bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata) shrubs and small trees were
in full bloom.

My next visit to the Vancouver area will be from April 7 to 9, and
I hope I will have some hummers to report then. Meanwhile, I will try
to encourage other Vancouver area observers to report hummer sightings
and flower use.

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops and Delta, B.C.
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca