A Calliope Hummingbird comes to Goderich

Well, of all the rare bird alerts I might have hoped for in the final weeks of the year, a western hummingbird was not even close to being on the radar.  This little guy, an immature male from out west, where I have seen them in Arizona and California, went off the radar himself and instead of flying south to Mexico ended up on the shores of Lake Huron, in the backyard of a home in Goderich.  This is the first ever Ontario record of Calliope Hummingbird and I was finally recovered enough from surgery on my spine to make the two-and-a-half hour drive from Toronto to see this rare event and add another Ontario Lifer.

This all began the previous evening when Glenn Coady, a respected birder here in Ontario reported it on the OntBirds rare bird alert.  This bird had been coming to the feeders of homeowner Linda, along with a Ruby-throated Hummingbird for some time before it was identified and vetted by several North American bird experts.  Glenn Coady was able to negotiate a week-long viewing window, so the next morning I was up early and made the drive up to Goderich, arriving long after many of the local birders I know from Toronto were already present in the backyard, amongst the crowd, marvelling at this little wonder from out west.

The homeowners were nice enough to open their backyard to Ontario birders, even putting out welcome balloons so we could find our way in:

The Star of the Show, Calliope Hummingbird, #322 for Ontario:

With all the interesting birds that have shown up over the last few weeks, I wouldn't be surprised if another rare bird or two appears on the radar of Ontario birders before the end of the year.