Old Mama - The oldest Rufous documented.
I had been too long without a real Olga moment. I mean one where you actually have the real thing sitting next to you as you look out over the wonders of Olga and Walter Clifton's yard in Abita Springs. So, knowing that good friend Linda Beall would be banding Ruby-throats last Sunday morning, I got an early start and made the 2 hour drive across Louisiana. I brought along my digital camera with a special purpose in mind. THE female Rufous, Old Mama, had returned to the pocket garden again this winter.
Nancy Newfield banded her many years ago and she has been a faithful returnee each winter to her favorite little spot in Olga's hummingbird haven. She has proven harder and harder to catch, and this season was having nothing to do with the cage despite several days of trying at various times during the winter. I arrived around 7:00 AM and Linda was hard at work banding Ruby-throats. Walter was in his photo blind out back working on his latest project. A group of friends were assisting in the banding operation, and Olga was manning the remote control to a hummer trap. I got my Olga hug, soaked in nature for a minute and then asked about the hummingbird. There was a female Rufous in the pocket garden, but her identity was unknown. She did not look quite right for Old Mama. The throat pattern seemed different, but they could not catch her. They wished me luck as I headed around the house to the pocket garden to set up my camera.
My digital camera is lots of fun but
also frustrating in having to depend on the auto focus for really sharp
pictures. I set the camera up about one foot from the feeder, set it on macro
focus, and backed away 30 feet with a remote control release. After 2 hours, I
had about 20 pictures of various hummingbirds, all out of focus. Finally after
getting everything right, I got a few nice sharp images. A banded male
Ruby-throat with the days paint mark
,
a banded return female Ruby that was not yet recaptured
,
and also the female Rufous. On the leg was a band that showed a ‘25’
.
Linda checked her records and Old Mama’s band ended in ‘257’. We tried catching
her for several hours with a trap on her feeder, but she was too smart for that
old trick. I left around noon after we all agreed to meet back the next morning
and I would bring over my nets and we would try the Russell Trap.
I got there at 6AM Monday
morning and Linda helped me set up the net. I felt confident we would get her
within a few minutes of waiting. A few Ruby-throats used the trap before a
female Rufous came down and entered. The plan worked perfectly and I noticed the
sheathing on P10 as I placed her in the bag. That matched the look of the
photograph, and I thought we had her. We congratulated each other, Olga started
to cry, we debated netting more Rubys, and decided just to process Old Mama.
Linda set off to the work bench
and I folded up the nets. I got to the bench just as Linda was reading the band
and said, “this is not her”
.
This was a recently banded Rufous from this season that was thought to have
departed. I opened up the nets again.
We tried different demptations over the next several hours to entice her into the trap, but after several ruby-throats and one near miss it began to rain. I left the pocket garden and joined Olga inside to watch through the window. This brought all the hummers out for a good bathing, and a nice increase in hummingbird combat. Old Mama finally entered the Russell Trap. Linda ran for the trap, but found only another male Ruby left inside. We knew she would return again when she got hungry though, and about 30 minutes later, we caught Old Mama.
This time the numbers were right
,
and she was officially documented
.
After measurements and photos
and a few more tears, we called Nancy with the news. It took a while to check
and double check the past records to be sure we got the years right. I have
counted the years on my fingers at least 10 times now. She was banded as an
adult in January of 1997. This means that the bird banding laboratory would
accept her hatch date as June 1995, and her age as 8 years 10 months. If all is
accepted, she beats the old longevity record by 9 months.
I said goodbyes and packed the
van. Yellow-throated Vireos and Pine Warblers were singing from the tree tops.
Northern Parulas were pulling nesting material from the nesting ball. Wood Ducks
were splashing in the cypress pond, and Tiger Swallow-tails were floating
through the yard. I heard a zeeeet zippity zip from Old Mama in the pocket
garden
as an unfortunate Ruby-throat had entered her royal domain. It was an Olga
moment.
Dave Patton