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Surprise bird greets New Year
Lyn Bales - Thu, Jan, 8, 2009
In October, it was not that unusual.
A female ruby-throated hummingbird came to the sugar water feeder of Ruth and Tom Clark.
The Clarks live on the lake.
Their screened-in back porch looks out on the water and the various feeders they keep for the birds.
Tom has rigged a pulley and wire system to float the nectar feeder high above the ground, just outside the middle of the deck.
Ruth usually brings it in after the last hummingbird’s visit in the fall, but this year, that did not happen.
In Knox County, most of the migrating hummers have passed through by late September.
A few may still be seen in October, but I rarely see one past the middle of the month. I generally keep my feeders out until Halloween and then it’s over until the next April.
In the fall, the ruby-throats eat often, putting on weight, becoming a little pudgy. They have to chunk up because migrating south, across the Gulf of Mexico to Central America, takes a lot of energy.
Many double their body weight in just a few weeks, from roughly one-tenth to two-tenths of an ounce.
A few may linger in our area into November, but that’s unusual because ruby-throats are not very well adapted to cold weather.
The hummer that came to the Clark’s’ feeder is a surprise because not only did it stay through November, but also was still coming to their feeder every 20 minutes or so at Christmas.
One day the temperature never got above freezing.
Ruth and Tom rotated two feeders, bringing one in to thaw and then switching it with the one outside all throughout the day.
Tom has given the feisty bird the nickname “Wee Hattie, the Hardy Hummer.”
Mark Armstrong, vice president of the local bird club and a bird bander, captured the late-season hummer, only to learn that the tiny bird had already been given a band with a number.
I first visited the Clarks and saw Wee Hattie on New Year’s Day. And then two days later, Patty Ford and I went again.
We were counting birds in that area as part of the annual Knox County Christmas Bird Count.
This was the 51st consecutive year of the census made within a 15-mile diameter circle centered on the intersection of Kingston Pike and Ebenezer Road. Luckily, the Clarks live within that circle.
Wee Hattie was only the second ruby-throated hummingbird to be tallied since the Audubon sanctioned count began in our county in 1958. (The first turned up only a few years ago.)
It’s difficult to say if Wee Hattie will eventually migrate or spend the entire winter, but with the Clarks’ southern hospitality, she just might stay.
Thanks, Ruth and Tom.
Lyn can be reached at 865-577-4717, ext. 19 or e-mail him at lynbales@comcast.net. His book “Natural Histories: Stories from the Tennessee Valley” is available at local bookstores.
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