[EBB Sightings] Close Encounter with a Hummingbird

This afternoon over on Lakeshore, in the middle of the shopping 
district, a hummingbird came down to work one of the bushes between the 
sidewalk and the roadway, and stayed for what felt like minutes. I was 
standing right there, close enough at some points that I wouldn't even 
have had to reach out to touch it (not that I tried); bending an elbow 
would have brought by hand right to the bird.

The most noticeable thing - after the sheer joy of where it was - was a 
square red patch below the beak. Looking at Sibley, I see that's a 
characteristic of the female Anna's, but I'd never seen it in the wild 
before, or not so clearly. I thought it might be an immature male, and 
couldn't figure out what one would be doing here at this time of year.
So it's less of a mystery than I thought as I sat down to write, but no 
less a delight....

-- 
- Hilary Powers - hilary at powersedit.com - Oakland CA -
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