I am unsure if it is appropriate to introduce yourself on your first post.
If it is, I've added that introduction to the bottom. I begin with a
question, then I list just a few very common sightings (since that's the
purpose of the list, I thought I'd better list a few). I've set up the tag
[Newbie] to let you know I'm a complete novice (five days into the hobby),
so you can filter out/ignore appropriately as I'll have mostly common
sightings and annoying questions in my posts. I'll use this tag quite a bit
so you can ignore the thread, as I will likely have little critical
information to provide.



QUESTION

We've had one solitary hummingbird come to our new hummingbird feeder. The
thing is, we can't identify it. It does not look exactly like the
photographs of our field guide or photos on the internet. Let me describe
it first, then offer my hunch on what it is, then ask the question:



The hummingbird is almost grey. It's almost all one grey color along the
head, neck and back, there is just a trace of dark coloring along the edge
of the wings. It's most definitely a hummingbird based on how it flies and
its beak (and the fact it craves the sugar solution in our red feeder). The
underbelly is a lighter grey, almost white and also almost entirely one
color (it is mottled a little, but not a lot and not with a lot of contrast
either). My wife said she saw flecks of red on the head, but I have yet to
observe this.



My thought is, this is actually a juvenile Anna's hummingbird, probably a
male. The closest photo I could find to what we see is this:



http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikonian72/4870171124/



My question is this: Is this the time of year in which one would spot
juvenile hummingbirds? I know Anna's hummingbirds are not that rare, but
what are the chances a juvenile Anna's Hummingbird hit our feeder within
just a few days of putting it up? Is it likely enough, that my
identification is probably correct? Should I wait and identify again before
adding it to my list of birds I've seen? My thanks in advance for any help
and advice there. I have not added it to any personal list yet, until I am
sure I saw what I saw!



SIGHTINGS

I've only been at this 5 days and I decided to boot my "life list" at 0 at
the very start. My "life list" is now at 14 since the day we started earlier
this week. I don't have anything to report that's even remotely rare and
most of what we've seen is your common backyard bird like Black-Capped
Chickadees, House Finches, American Goldfinches, Steller's Jays, Northern
Flickers etc. etc.



However I have three sightings that I enjoyed enough to share with you,
common, but still quite fun for me (especially since I am so new):



KILLDEER

We spotted this lovely bird out of complete luck. It is hanging out in a
parking lot at the Sound Credit Union brand in Burien (14647 Ambaum Blvd
SW). It took us a long time to identify it, but we got such a good, long
look at it, we're confident this is what we saw. It is very protective of
the area around the parking lot (it is mostly rocks, a little grass). It
even did the "I'm injured" move when I got close to it. It was a really cool
bird and I am 100% sure this is what we saw.



DARK EYED JUNCO (Slate-colored variant)

If you've been to Lincoln Park you know the place is just infested with
Robins right now. Seems to me they are especially active in the evening,
hunting along the ground, in very large number and chirping away everywhere.
However among the numerous Robins, I saw a Dark Eyed Junco with the slate
coloring hunting right along with them. It was acting as if it was one of
the "gang", following other Robins, as if it knew the Robins could lead it
to worms, grubs etc. etc. I saw this guy for a while, so I am fairly
confident this is what I saw.



BALD EAGLE (Adult & Juvenile Eaglet)

If you are a regular at Lincoln Park you know the young Eaglet I am talking
about! She (or is it a he?) perches in fairly regular spots and while it
can fly, seems pretty intimidated to do so unless it absolutely has to. I
am told the adult that hangs around it right now is the mother, a very
impressive Bald Eagle who often perches right out in the open, fairly close
to the juvenile. I've been to Lincoln Park three times now and seen this
pair of birds twice, so the chances of spotting them on a visit is very
high.



INTRODUCTION

My name is Douglas. About 5 days ago my wife and I saw a documentary on bird
watching in Central Park on HBO. We marveled at it, then looked at one
another after the film and both knew immediately we'd like to try the hobby
out. So we took a trip to Wildlife Unlimited for some seed and feeders and
setup a very nice little array of feeders in the deck. We've spotted 9
species in the back since we've set it up, we're thrilled. We seem to be
Chickadee central, with as many as 8 swarming around our feeders. We noticed
the more that show up, the less they seem to actually eat and the more they
begin to play tag and chirp at one another, which is hilarious to watch. It
seems they are very social birds!



My wife and I are both late-40's, we're immigrants to Seattle, arriving in
1996 but we adore it here (especially West Seattle where we live) and very
much consider this place our home now. I am a computer programmer by trade,
I work from home now, which is another reason I wanted to take up birding.
We have two daughters, both teenagers now and both beautiful and
intelligent. You may see us around Lincoln Park and Magnuson Park in the
weeks ahead. You'll spot us because we're a little overweight, late 40's,
holding large black binoculars (that I bought for Seahawks games and are not
really suited for birding) and we are usually wandering around aimlessly
looking for things and madly checking our cell phone field guide when we do
to identify it. Although we're not ready to join walks/tours with the
various groups yet, do feel free to come say "hello" if you spot us on a
walk.



Thank you for letting me read this list and post my question.