Rufous Hummingbird on Sunday Afternoon

Hard to resist taking another photo of sugar maples... [along the road, Somers, CT, Sue's photo]

Chickadees, Crows and Bluejays here.

and marshy places ringed with red and yellow... [Shenipsit State Forest, Stafford, Sue's photo]

Juncos, White-throated Sparrows and Song Sparrows here.

and quiet ponds reflecting more autumn color... [Shenipsit State Forest, Stafford, Sue's photo]

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Belted Kingfisher and Downy Woodpecker here.

And it's very hard to resist chasing birds who show up in our state only in the fall...

This is Bob and Linda Dixon's female Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus. [Sterling, CT, Jorge's photo]

female Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus. [Sterling, CT, Jorge's photo]

She has been a most cooperative yard bird for the Dixons, and for all of us strangers who were welcomed to venture into the back yard for a glimpse of this diminutive beauty. The hummingbird has been frequenting a standard sugar-water feeder for about a week and a half now, but takes natural nectar from the nearby honeysuckle flowers as well.

View looking down on the hummingbird's preferred feeder, and one of several trellises and gardens. [Sterling, CT, Jorge's photo]

The vantage point for above photo is a platform that Bob has built, eight feet off the ground, against a small outbuilding in the middle of his yard - a good place to scan the skies or do a "big sit", he explained.

The Dixons have made their back yard into an oasis for birds - and by virtue of this, for themselves as well. Gardens, shrubs, trellises, vines, feeders and nest boxes fill every corner and curve. A lovely path loops back into the woods, with an observation blind, more nest boxes - and, where you discover that you have a warbler's-eye-view of treetops growing up from the wetlands below. Fantastic habitat - no wonder they have 164 yard birds!

Karen and Sue chat with Bob in between visits of the Rufous Hummingbird.

A big thank you to Bob and Linda Dixon for welcoming us, and many other birders, to enjoy views of the hummer and their beautiful yard.

I was so fixated on the hummingbird that I may not be able to recreate an accurate list of other birds we saw there.

Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Bluejay
Tufted Titmouse
Black-capped Chickadee
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Purple Finch - many!
American Goldfinch
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Sharp-shinned Hawk
American Crow

On the way home, in the very last light of the afternoon, we stopped at the little pond in Mansfield Center [the one with the boy scout bird blind, behind Mansfield's restaurant]

Karen and Sue calling it a day.

Here I had good looks at a Marsh Wren, Cistothorus palustris, with its dark crown, strong eye stripe and streaky back. The taped wren call brought in only a Song Sparrow, but the wren could be heard from within the marsh grasses - just didn't show itself again for a photo!

And a post script.
This is the first time we've seen the Rufous Hummingbird - which makes it a lifer - except...
The bird was identified in the hand through a series of measurements. This is a bird that cannot be positively identified in the conditions under which we saw it in the Dixon's backyard - a female, of a western species, in October, in Connecticut. We take the word of those who took the measurements.