Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Rufous Hummingbird

Several local birders have spotted this late-arriving female Rufous hummingbird at the feeders at Musick’s Campground, Bristol, Tenn. Hummingbirds are hard enough to spot this time of year and even harder when it’s not a “native” species. The rufous summers basically on the California coast north from San Francisco and then winters along the Texas gulf shores. They end up here more often than a person might imagine but not all that much.

The folks at Musick’s had two feeders up and a warming lamp all to attract and keep the rufous long enough to band her. As of December 15, 2015, today, as I write this, she was reported missing and might be on her way south.

We wish her good luck!
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Common Goldeneye

This Common goldeneye photograph was taken in the fog at Osceola Island, just downstream from TVA’s South Holston Dam. Size is deceptive. The goldeneye is smaller than a mallard and easily bigger than bufflehead, which is also black and white. It is a winter duck in these parts. The cheek patch of white is what really gives the goldeneye away. Bufflehead seem to zip around a lot amongst the more sedate goldeneye and mallard.

Roy Knispel was fortunate that the goldeneye stuck closer to the dam than most of the rest of the flocks. A very heavy fog was just beginning to lift that morning otherwise this picture would just have been all white.
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