Nature's Notebook

t’s not the title of a new movie, and it’s not about hum-vees. Instead, the Tri-State region was hit by an amazing influx ofhummingbirdsduring the past few weeks.

 That’s right. Hummingbirds. In November. And not just any hummingbirds, not even our one common breeding species in the East,the ruby-throated hummingbird.

 No, most of these areSelasphorushummingbirds. Don’t worry, they’re not some kind of radioactive element. That’s the name of a genus of two closely related hummingbirds from western North America, the rufous hummingbirdand Allen’s hummingbird. Even expert birders have trouble telling these two species apart, so similar is their plumage at this time of year; for that reason, they often refer to them by their generic name.

Sensibly, our rubythroats have headed south for the winter, and so have the vast majority of other North American hummers. But for some reason, a handful of these tiny birds, particularly of the Selasphorus duo, wander the continent during late fall, popping up at hummingbird feeders and late-blooming flowers far from their home ranges.

What made this November exceptional was the sheer number of sightings. Many of us suspect that the continued string of unusually warm days is the cause, though why it should push those Westerners eastward is not clear. A second possible explanation is that more people have been leaving out their nectar feeders longer as they become aware of the general phenomenon of late-wandering hummers.

You might want to join in the game by hanging a hummingbird feeder and watching it for a tiny sprite (though as I write this, the season’s coldest weather is finally due to arrive). Feeders are on sale at the Sharon Audubon gift shop and elsewhere.

Notes from readers: Joy Pulver of Salisbury writes that an adultbald eagleis still evident in the vicinity of Lakeville Lake; Margaret Webber of Sharon had a flock of eastern bluebirdson her deck.

Fred Baumgarten is a naturalist and writer. He can be reached at fredb58@sbcglobal.net. His blog is at thatbirdblog.blogspot.com. 

Latest News

Shelea Lynn Hurley

WASSAIC — Shelea Lynn “Shalay” Hurley, 51, a longtime area resident, died peacefully on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, following a lengthy illness. Her husband, Michael, was at her bedside when Shalay was called home to be with God.

Born April 19, 1973, in Poughkeepsie, she was the daughter of the late Roy Cullen, Sr. and Joann (Miles) Antoniadis of Amsterdam, New York. Shalay was a graduate of Poughkeepsie High School class of 1991. On July 21, 2018 in Dover Plains, New York she married Michael P. Hurley. Michael survives at home in Wassaic.

Keep ReadingShow less
'A Complete Unknown' — a talkback at The Triplex

Seth Rogovoy at the screening of “A Complete Unknown” at The Triplex.

Natalia Zukerman

When Seth Rogovoy, acclaimed author, critic, and cultural commentator of “The Rogovoy Report” on WAMC Northeast Public Radio, was asked to lead a talkback at The Triplex in Great Barrington following a screening of the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” he took on the task with a thoughtful and measured approach.

“I really try to foster a conversation and keep my opinions about the film to myself,” said Rogovoy before the event on Sunday, Jan. 5. “I want to let people talk about how they felt about it and then I ask follow-up questions, or people ask me questions. I don’t reveal a lot about my feelings until the end.”

Keep ReadingShow less
On planting a Yellowwood tree

The author planted this Yellowwood tree a few years ago on some of his open space.

Fritz Mueller

As an inveterate collector of all possibly winter hardy East coast native shrubs and trees, I take a rather expansive view of the term “native”; anything goes as long as it grows along the East coast. After I killed those impenetrable thickets of Asiatic invasive shrubs and vines which surrounded our property, I suddenly found myself with plenty of open planting space.

That’s when, a few years ago, I also planted a Yellowwood tree, (Cladastris kentukea). It is a rare, medium-sized tree in the legume family—spectacular when in bloom and golden yellow in fall. In the wild, it has a very disjointed distribution in southeastern states, yet a large specimen, obviously once part of a long-gone garden, has now become part of the woods bordering Route 4 on its highest point between Sharon and Cornwall.

Keep ReadingShow less