a TWO hummingbird day - in New England... in NOVEMBER!?!

Well, today was one heckuva day. Pamela and I both woke up early today after both having rather a restless night(might've had something to do with all that candy we ate while waiting for the Trick-or-treaters to come around) and decided that since we would be getting an early start, we'd head down to Cape Cod instead of our normal, more northerly route. The cape gets some great birds, and I feel that I just don't get down there enough to bird.

Our first stop was in Dennis, where a Broad-billed Hummingbird has been coming to a feeder since August. I've been wanting to go see it for a while, especially since it is a first state record in MA, but it is a bird that we've seen well in Arizona, so it wasn't something that we were going to burn up a lot of gas to go for. The owners of the home with the feeder that it has been coming to have been exceedingly nice to birders and allowing them to visit and see the bird. We were lucky in that within a few moments of arriving, the bird showed up. The backyard was surrounded by trees and a bit dark, so photo opportunities were not great, but the views were stunning.








In the last photo especially, you can see why it is called a Broad-billed Hummingbird.

Next we continued on to Massachusetts Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary. We've not spent a lot of time here yet, but each time we do go, I always say I want to spend more time. Our first trip here was last winter to watch for Hoary Redpolls among the hordes of Common Redpolls (and were succesful). Should you ever find you way to the cape,this is certainly a spot not to be missed. In addition to all the trails, they have an excellent visitors center that will be of interest to young and old alike. Today's treat at the sanctuary was a family group of Bobwhite. I got a photo snapped of one adult that stayed to keep an eye on us as the rest of the family scurried off the trail into the brush.

Next stop was the "stump dump" in Eastham. This spot has been getting a lot of coverage lately and a lot of posts to the local listservs for migrants and vagrants like Clay-colored Sparrow, Field Sparrow, (heck, just lots of sparrows) Indigo Buntings, Dickcissels, and even a knee-level Yellow-billed Cuckoo. (Who would even think to look for them there?) At first, it was a bit slow, with lots of House Sparrows and Song Sparrows working the piles of stumps, twigs, and other detritus.
But after a while it did perk up. Song sparrow numbers increased (yes I know, they're not that interesting or rare, but I did get a rather nice photo of one, don't you think?) Our only warbler for the day showed up next - a Palm that perched, pumped it's tail a few times then moved on. I thought I spotted a Lincoln's Sparrow, so we spent a bit more time looking for that, but were never able to see it again. Instead, a Field Sparrow was quite obliging for a few minutes.
Finally another bird popped up and stayed for a bit. My first thought was Dickcissel, but frankly I do not have very much experience with these birds, and am certainly no very familiar with the immature birds. I was able to get a few good shots off, and have since had several people confirm that this is indeed an immature Dickcissel. (The fine streaks on the check threw me off - didn't expect that)









Then it was time for a lunch-break. We dined on fried seafood, then headed on over the the Birdwatcher's General Store in Orleans to pick-up some supplies, Christmas gifts, etc. Another place you have to visit if you are a birder (or even if you're not) and visiting the cape. And you have to visit the web site. It's almost as much fun as the store.

We then did a quick run to First Encounter Beach, where there were plent of 'Pale-bellied' Brant in the bay, as well as many adult Gannets. I decided that since the better part of the day was behind us, we'd start heading back up towards home, instead of going up towards Provincetown. (Had I only known that Blair Nikula had found a Black-tailed Gull in Herring Cove, we would've been there lickety-split!)

Instead, I decided that I wanted to make this an exceedingly rare day of birding in New England. Just about 25 minutes north of us, a Rufous Hummingbird had been reported coming to a feeder in a town called Plaistow in New Hampshire. There was plenty of light left in the day so we went for it. Again, the owners of the home were very friendly, and welcomed us to their backyard to watch for the bird, (as well as showed us a few photos that had been taken earlier in the day.) After about 10 minutes we heard a sound that we knew was the wings of a hummingbird as they sliced through the air in their unique figure-eight pattern. It stuck around near the trees for a little while at first, but then eventually came to the feeder, taking nice long drinks for almost five minutes. I'm guessing he was fueling up for the night.

Now I just hope that these two rare hummers realize soon that a New England winter is not their cup of tea, and catch a tailwind to more southerly climes before the mercury drops to much more.