Sunday, September 4, 2016 young hummingbird, Costa's?

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 7:01 am, sunset 8:50 pm for a total daylight of 13 hours and 48 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 24 seconds shorter.

Cloudy with fog and occasional showers today, with temps in the mid 50s. Chance of rain and a peek of sunshine are forecast for Monday, and rain for Tuesday and Wednesday, then sunshine and temps in the low 60s.

A few days ago, a very small, and very young hummingbird showed up at a feeder near Ava’s Place. Yesterday, it moved over to Ava’s and she was able to get a few photos of it around 8 pm. I went there this morning at 10 am and got a fleeting look at it with a few photos as it briefly sat on a fence rope.

The new youngster was puffed up into a roundish ball. At least two of its wing feathers and some of the tail feathers were still emerging from their sheaths. To me, it looked much younger than the Costa’s photographed in Anchorage last November.

The “resident” juvenile male ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRD was fairly aggressive about “his” territory, and drove the youngster away. I did not see the new hummer again, but hope it is still around.

Meanwhile, the perky Anna’s chipped from its favorite perches in the nearby Mayday tree or dead alder branch whenever it saw something of interest such as a potential intruder (aka NUTHATCH, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, HAIRY WOODPECKER). 

Often, it carried on a cheery conversation in his buzzy little voice, and displayed with his feathers held up. I noticed he too, had some feathers still in sheaths. Maybe he's waiting for all his feathers to be fully functional before the long migration south.

The young RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD has not been seen since Friday.

As I have never seen a Costa’s or a young Anna’s, I would appreciate any expert suggestions on identification. I hope to get more photos tomorrow.

Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter









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