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The Times reminded me that there are Calliope hummingbirds in Fort Tryon Park, so I told Andy, and we went down to take a look. It's all of two subway stops away. He took the good digital camera; I took the field glasses and the appropriate field guide.
The birds were there, hanging out in the Heather Garden, not shy about all the people looking and photographing. Tiny things--the smallest hummingbirds in North America--with metallic green wings. Mostly we watched them sit on branches, but we also got to see them feed, hovering in front of the purple salvia, long beaks sipping nectar, almost a textbook case, except that textbooks don't generally lead me to go "Wow!" repeatedly.
It was a fine bright afternoon in the sunshine, excellent light for birding. We were too close for the field glasses to be of any use, except for a couple of quick looks at flowers up or down hills, but the field guide was useful as a sunshade, and to show bird photos to curious bystanders. It also lent me an air of spurious authority; fortunately, the questions I was asked were all things I'd read the answers to earlier in the day, like where the birds normally live (California, wintering in Mexico).
The birds were there, hanging out in the Heather Garden, not shy about all the people looking and photographing. Tiny things--the smallest hummingbirds in North America--with metallic green wings. Mostly we watched them sit on branches, but we also got to see them feed, hovering in front of the purple salvia, long beaks sipping nectar, almost a textbook case, except that textbooks don't generally lead me to go "Wow!" repeatedly.
It was a fine bright afternoon in the sunshine, excellent light for birding. We were too close for the field glasses to be of any use, except for a couple of quick looks at flowers up or down hills, but the field guide was useful as a sunshade, and to show bird photos to curious bystanders. It also lent me an air of spurious authority; fortunately, the questions I was asked were all things I'd read the answers to earlier in the day, like where the birds normally live (California, wintering in Mexico).
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