bs | Outdoors «Rare and hungry h EVENING GROSBEAKS Contrary to the gist of this column last week, many callers have recorded unusual numbers of birds, both species and individu- als, at their feeders: during the recent cold spell. The birds were hungry and apparently responding to the increased demand for food associ- ated with maintaining normal high temperatures and elevated heat loss by radiation. They called about handsome red-breasted sapsuckers, downies, redwings, golden-crowned spar- tows, fox sparrows, chestnut- backed chickadees, juncos, finches, towhees, scads of bushtits and robins. Anne Whiting, Amherst, had the pleasure of observing colorful evening grosbeaks at her feeding Station while John Squire, Wallace Drive (Brentwood), had quite a time keeping pace with an Anna’s hummingbird which tumed up at Z short regular intervals during the daylight hours, It was necessary to keep a full feeder in reserve since the solution tended to freeze if exposed for any length of time. Of course, the feeders could not be left out during the night so his first chore in the early moming was to provide the feathered mite with a fresh bottle of the very thin, life-preserving, syrup. Because of their extremely small size and relatively large body surface for their weight, hummers lose heat to the environ- ment very- rapidly, just as the small shrews do. John’s hummingbird fed very often. Until very recently, the Anna’s hummingbird has been extremely rare here. Taylor notes that the first specimen of the species on the Island was taken on Aug. 26, 1958 at Victoria. Taylor goes on, stating that two resident adults were seen with an immature at Langford on April 4, 1980. The species is apparently expanding its range. Phyllis Jones, Mills Road, had a visit from a superb trumpeter swan which coasted in on a small pond . on their property and a cattle egret is reported to have been sharing a cattle shed with with the livestock on the Martindale Flats. Mary and I saw large flock of killdeer, numbering more that 40 individuals, foraging on a section of the Vantreight Market garden, Central Saanich. Redwings are singing among the The > Review has moved...