The Flying Jewels of the Tuolumne River, the Hummingbirds

Our local environment hosts around five species of hummingbirds, although the Calliope or Costa's Hummingbirds have rarely been sighted (especially not by me). But hummingbirds are common in the area, as the moderate climate provides at least some food during the winter, and plentiful food during other parts of the year.

The Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) is a summertime visitor, and they've been regulars at our backyard feeders. I was sitting on the porch last evening and had this one checking me out. They are characterized by...a black chin! But it is the purple iridescence of their head and neck feathers that makes them look like flying amethyst crystals in the right light. I've only caught the color a few times in images.

The Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) is a fall and spring migrant in our region. The rich golden color is distinctive. They've been reported at only four other locations in our county so far this fall, but I've been following a small crowd of them in the wild tobacco shrubs near the Waterford water treatment plant, and a little ways downstream. I saw the first ones on August 7, and they are continuing to argue with each other right up through this afternoon. These flying gold nuggets will be missed when they move on south soon.

The Rufous Hummingbirds have a long migration, traveling from Alaska to Mexico with the seasons. When considering their size, their migration is the longest of any bird. Some birds go farther, but the Rufous travels 78 million body lengths; for a human, that would be just over three trips around the world!

The resident hummingbird in our region is the Anna's Hummingbird (Calpte anna). That makes hummingbird identification during the winter rather simple. They have a magenta iridescence when it is visible.

Black-chinned Hummingbird in the Backyard

I'm not done with my posts on Hawaiian birds; I finished with the natives, but there are lots of other birds to see there. But in the meantime, in the immortal words of Dorothy of Oz, "There's no place like home". I was told in no uncertain terms by the birds in the backyard to refill the birdfeeders. There was noise all day, but the most insistent individual was a little female Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri). It quite literally flew by my face, landed on the mostly empty feeder, then perched in the nearby Crepe Myrtle tree and stared at me. The message was clear...

The Black-chinned Hummingbird is a western species with a range extending from Washington to southern Mexico and eastward as far as Texas. They do well in urban settings (they love feeders) so their population has been increasing. I've seen quite a few of them along the Tuolumne River.

Female Black-chinned Hummingbird on the Tuolumne River

Female hummingbirds can be hard to tell apart. I'm going with the white eye spot and slightly curved beak to call this one a Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri). I've also seen males on these same shrubs. The hummingbirds in general have been one of the most common birds I've seen along the Tuolumne Parkway Trail over the last few days. Some of the shrubs are flowering despite the dry conditions, providing a food source. There have been quite a few bugs flying in the air, and hummingbirds aren't at all averse to consuming bugs. They need the protein. They need the sugar too, given that their metabolism is such that they could starve in the space of a few hours or a day.

Black-chinned Hummingbird on the Tuolumne River Parkway Trail

I've hesitated putting these pictures up, because I'm not fully confident in my identification of these birds as Black-chinned Hummingbirds (Archilochus alexandri). We are only seeing them from the back, and Anna's Hummingbirds or others also have green backs. It's just that the only times I have seen them from the front, they were Black-chinned.

The picture above is one of the most unique angles I've ever caught of a hummingbird! The first two pictures are from one month ago, but I caught the picture below just this morning. I'm glad to see the birds survived through what we hope is the end of the drought. These birds are a true western species, and are not found east of the Rocky Mountains.

As always, please let me know if I've missed the species identification! I'm still new at this.

Black-chinned Hummingbird on Tuolumne River Parkway

My walk last week along the Tuolumne River Parkway Trail at the edge of the Sierra Nevada netted what has become a dependable species. Despite the drought, a few shrubs are flowering at this late date, and this little Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) was taking advantage of the situation. I'll see two or three individuals every time I walk down the hill to the river shore. The bird is common across the Southwest and Mexico,

As always, I'm not great at identifying some kinds of birds, including the hummingbirds. I will cheerfully acknowledge your assistance!

Female Black-chinned Hummingbird and Bonus Furry Animal on the Tuolumne River

Go figure. I identified a Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) for the first time only last Sunday (posted here), and four days later I go walking on a different part of the Tuolumne River, and I see another one, a female this time. A typical case of "you see the things you know; and miss the things you don't know".

I was checking out the progress of the Tuolumne River Parkway trail in Waterford, and was walking down the road to the wastewater treatment facility when I saw it on a large shrub with flowers clearly designed for hummingbirds. I don't know if it is a native species or not, but the flowers are perfectly shaped for hummingbird beaks.

The trail is coming along at a nice pace. It may be completed by October 1st according to the employee I spoke to. I was able to follow the entire path from the treatment plant to the base of the bluffs of the future park that I visit so often, although there is no surfacing on the path yet. The trail will be a delight when it is finished. It will follow the banks of the Tuolumne River from Appling (or River) Park on the east end of town, to South Reinway Park (the park that doesn't actually exist yet) on the west end, a distance of about two miles. It's marvelous that someone is finally recognizing the value of the river to the community.

As for your bonus mammal: as I was taking pictures at the downstream end of the trail, and some movement on the face of the bluff caught my eye. It was a Gray Fox coming down the cliff with lunch in its mouth. As best I can tell, it was a possum, but I'm not sure.

It stopped and checked me out for a moment, then ran down into the willows by the river.

Black-chinned Hummingbird on the Tuolumne Bluffs

It's been awhile since I've posted any birds. I was on a series of trips that extended from Canada almost to Mexico, and I found limited time for blogging. I also had trouble coming up with something as dramatic as my last post here, the life and death struggle between the Great Blue Herons and Bald Eagles at Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, B.C. It was the most-viewed post on this site ever that didn't have the world "rumped" in it (really, one can't count all the people who clicked on the Yellow-rumped Warbler as being birdwatchers). In any case, I'm trying to get back to some normal posting, and my walk this morning gave me the inspiration. I actually saw a totally new species in my neighborhood (keep in mind that it doesn't mean a rare species; I'm still catching up with the list of common species around here). It was a Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) at the future park on the bluffs over the Tuolumne River in Waterford.

I actually thought it was a big moth at first. It was on a bush just below the bluff's edge, and it was fluttering a bit differently than I expect hummingbirds to do. For one, it wasn't going for flowers; it was flying out into the void for a moment and returning. Once I realized it was a hummingbird, I realized it was going after insects, which you can see swarming in the picture below.

Anna's Hummingbirds tend to be the default species around here (we actually have five species in the area, so I have some catching up to do). I was surprised when I saw a flash of bright blue on the throat of the today's bird; it was something new. I tried to catch it in the photos, but as the guides say, it's only visible from some angles. I don't like the fuzziness of the photo below, but it's the best shot of the throat that I was able to get.