Hi all, At noon today, the hummingbird in Bexley was caught by Allen Chartier, and positively identified as an adult female Rufous Hummingbird. Although a bit of a wait was required, the hummer eventually appeared and was caught easily enough. She was a champ and handled the data gathering and banding process beautifully and was released shortly thereafter. It must be noted that these vagrant hummingbirds are not being captured just to prove what species they are, although that is obviously an important question only answered in some cases by capturing the bird. Banding of hummingbirds has shed light on some of the mysteries of these little sprites, including sex and age of birds, health, and site fidelity. Big thanks to Allen for making the trip down from Michigan and once again lending his expertise. And kudos to the homeowner, JoAnn LaMuth, who has been exceedingly gracious towards the birding community and has welcomed birders wishing to see the hummingbird. A reporter from the Columbus Dispatch and a photographer were on hand when the bird was caught. They got a great story and lots of awesome photos. I understand that the story will run next Tuesday in the science pages of the Dispatch: http://www.dispatch.com, which is available online. I also got lots of great photos and even video, and I'll get a story and pics up on my blog: http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/ sometime in the next day or so. Jim Jim McCormac Ohio Division of Wildlife 2045 Morse Rd., G-3 Columbus, Ohio 43229 614-265-6440 614-262-1143 fax ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]