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About
the March 21/22 rufous hummingbird sightings in Juneau, AK:
Mr.
Gus van Vliet, long-time birdwatcher, Auke Bay (near Juneau)
"This record seems highly unlikely. This observation would
smash the previous record early arrival date for Juneau by at least
10 days. It would tie the previous record date for Ketchikan (about
200 miles south of us). Also, the fact that the observer saw TWO
different birds in two locations on two different record-breaking
dates leads me to believe that perhaps there is an error in the
observation. Finally, here in northern SE Alaska we have had a very
mild winter but in the middle of March we had a severe cold-snap
— the lowest temperatures of the entire winter. This is another
reason to suspect the early Juneau hummingbird sighting.
Mike
Patterson, rufous hummingbird expert, Astoria, OR
"The earliest record I can find for Juneau/Auke Bay in March
31, which would make this a tad early. On the other hand, I show
records from farther south (Ketchikan and Sitka) for March 15. These
were verified.
This is not a year I would have predicted early arrivals, but then
again, we saw multiple Rufous hummingbirds overwinter up to Seattle
(at least). A full adult male overwintered in Astoria. Expect to
see more of this as the arctic ice caps recede."
NOTE:
You might wonder if the observer saw another type of hummingbird,
rather than a rufous. Other experts tell us that an Anna's hummingbird
(similar to a rufous) is occasionally seen in southern Alaska, but
not until later in the summer.
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