Subject: [Tweeters] An Old Friend
Date: Oct 18 11:41:35 2009
From: David Hutchinson - flora.fauna at live.com



While parking at the E.L.C. in Discovery Park, I always look up to see if a male Anna's Hummingbird is perched on the dead tree near the parking lot entrance. The snag has been empty since late May at least. But today a male in breeding plumage was there and while no singing was heard, you could tell he was feeling it. So October 18th might be the frontier of the breeding season here in Seattle, just as it is in Southern California, perhaps their original natal area. Down south males are certainly in full breeding condition by late November, early December. The females follow a couple of weeks later.They breed throughout their Spring
Of course in Seattle, Anna's are much like us; they dodge the rain and the cold; try to stay warm and eat well and generally stay close to home, but they eat insects when they can, stay close to feeders and linger at warm sites. But whatever the weather, females are usually nesting by the beginning of February. DH


--
David Hutchinson, Owner
Flora & Fauna: Nature Books
Discovery Gardens: Native Plants
3212 W.Government Way
Seattle,WA.98199
http://www.ffbooks.net/
206-623-4727



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