It was a gloomy, sodden November morning, but when I looked out the window my eyes were drawn to the hummingbird feeder where a male Anna’s hummingbird was hovering on sugar-powered wings.
Anna’s hummingbirds, in the last few years, have become common winter residents all over the Sunshine Coast, with their presence centred on the provision of feeders even as they still find nectar at the remaining garden flowers (I watched one working a fuschia) and taking insects for protein.
Anna’s hummers are green on the back and greyish on the breast. The males still have a glittering pink gorget (throat) that is somewhat hard to see in the low light conditions of November and the females have a white throat with faint reddish lines. Looking on the bright side — in less than four months the rufous hummingbirds, the common hummer of summer, will return to our coast from Mexico and displace the Anna’s around our feeders with their belligerence.
Another bird attracted to feeders, and often less welcome, is the Steller’s Jay.
Jays descend on well supplied bird feeders in the fall after dispersing to breed during the summer. They are piggish around feeders, often simply packing the food away, and can dominate feeders at the expense of smaller birds.
Imagine Aldo Cogrossi’s problem at his feeder at the Ruby Lake Resort with 62 Steller’s Jays to feed? In West Sechelt Alan Cairns feeder had a visit on Nov. 17 from the only rare bird of November so far, a Harris’s sparrow. This species is an occasional winter visitor to our area averaging less than one bird per year. Bird feeders often receive attention from predators and Mari on Mason Road reported that a pygmy owl captured a song sparrow at her feeder.
November was a productive month for those looking out over the water with scarcer species such as Pacific loon, western grebe, long-tailed duck, common murre and both marbled and ancient murrelets present.
The Chaster Park area of Gibsons, the Roberts Creek pier, Mission Point and the foot of Wakefield Road in West Sechelt were all good locations for sea watches. This is also the time of the year when Roberts Creek, Chapman Creek and numerous other streams host American dippers. Look for these birds at the estuaries and lower channels of our creeks as they glean salmon eggs while performing miraculous feats of walking under the swift-flowing water, and bobbing, or dipping constantly when on land.
To report your sightings or questions contact [email protected] or call 885-5539.
