Cascadia Hummingbird Report - 2/10/2003

There were three coastal reports this week for RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS including
a very surprising report from Port Renfrew, BC which (argueably) may belong
with the group discussed further down the page.

Florence, OR 02-08-2003 39 43.9864 124.1031
Port Renfrew, BC 02-08-2003 39 48.5500 124.4167
Sea Ranch, CA 02-09-2003 40 38.6917 123.4250

There were several reports December and January of Rufous Hummingbirds
as far north as Seattle these reports usually prove to be misidentified
Anna's Hummingbirds, reported by people using older field guides. This
year at least two reports were accompanied by photographs and really were
correctly identified. It has been a very mild winter, averaging 4-5?F
higher than the previous 2 years for January:

2003 2002 2001
Coos Bay, OR 51.9 45.9 47.2
Astoria, OR 48.4 43.2 44.4
Seattle, WA 45.9 40.7 41.8

I didn't include BC climate data because I couldn't find a site with
archived historical averages (though I'm sure there's one out there).
The mild weather undoubtedly made it easier for hummingbirds that, for
whatever reason, chose not to make the trip south.

This brings me to the reports last week from the Portland Metro area

Gresham, OR 02-03-2003 34 45.5324 122.4582
Lake Oswego, OR 02-03-2003 34 45.3736 122.5897

I suspect these may be over-wintering birds also, possibly moving from
some area nearby. This year it's going to be a challenge to sort the
migrants that have come a long way from the migrants that came from down
the street...

--
Mike Patterson
Astoria, OR
celata at pacifier.com

A child who becomes acquainted with the birds about him
hears every sound and puzzles out its meaning with a cleverness
that amazes those with ears who hear not.

-Neltje Blanchan

http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html