<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Eric,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">It has long been noticed that Golden-crowned Kinglets come down to the ground to forage in really adverse weather conditions, so we can add Ruby-crowned to that list as well.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Be sure to let us know if anyone sees a Brown Creeper doing this!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Dennis Paulson</div><div class="">Seattle<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Jan 14, 2024, at 9:40 PM, Eric Ellingson <<a href="mailto:esellingson@gmail.com" class="">esellingson@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class=""></div> Most Ruby-crowned Kinglets I've seen are usually quickly going about in bushes and trees, sometimes way high up, other times closer to eye level. However, even at eye level, they can be difficult birds to get a photo of. Also, the scarlet crown is not always seen on the males or if seen just as a red flash.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class="">So it was fascinating to see two of these hopping along the ground on the trail at Point Whitehorn. They seemed oblivious to us standing in the middle of the path. They would come toward us passing by our feet and continuing along the path. <br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The scarlet on the head was very visible but not raised as when agitated. This and the behavior of feeding and hopping along on the ground are not the norm. My guess about this ground-level feeding is that with the high winds and freezing weather (into single digits) their food of insects was blown to the ground out of the shrubs and trees they would have been in. Who, knows? Also, maybe a way to conserve energy?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Camera in hand, as usual, I could not pass up the opportunity. I took many shots and videos of them hopping and foraging. Often they would come toward me getting too close for my camera to focus on them. If I had a small insect in my hand I'm guessing they would have hopped into my had to eat it.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The 29-second video is comprised of some close-ups showing the scarlet crown and foraging successes. Watch it here: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/2pswNca" target="_blank" class="">https://flic.kr/p/2pswNca</a> Enjoy.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">What unusual behaviors have you seen during this very cold and windy past few days?</div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" width="500" style="margin:1em 0px 0px;padding:0px;font-family:Calibri,Candara,Segoe,"Segoe UI",Optima,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px;color:rgb(75,101,57);line-height:1.35;width:500px" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td style="vertical-align:top" class=""><br class="gmail-Apple-interchange-newline"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;line-height:1.35" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td class=""><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;line-height:1.35;color:rgb(9,82,123);font-size:17px;font-weight:bolder" class="">Eric Ellingson</span></td></tr><tr class=""><td class=""><div style="margin-top:2px;margin-bottom:0px" class=""></div></td></tr><tr class=""><td class=""><div style="margin-top:3px;margin-bottom:0px;line-height:1.2" class=""><a href="tel:360-820-6396" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(49,29,201);margin:0px;padding:0px;line-height:1.35;text-decoration-line:none" class="">360-820-6396</a> <br class=""><a href="mailto:esellingson@gmail.com" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(49,29,201);margin:0px;padding:0px;line-height:1.35;text-decoration-line:none" class="">esellingson@gmail.com</a></div></td></tr><tr class="gmail-cloudHQ_fields_custom"><td class=""><div style="margin-top:8px;line-height:1.2" class=""><div style="margin-top:3px" class=""><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;line-height:1.35" class=""><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ericellingson/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(49,29,201);margin:0px;padding:0px;line-height:1.35;text-decoration-line:none" class="">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ericellingson/</a> </span></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class=""></div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature" id="cloudHQ_signature2_id"><div dir="ltr" class=""><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" width="500" style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family:Calibri,Candara,Segoe,'Segoe UI',Optima,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px;color:#4b6539;line-height:1.35;width:500px;margin-top:1em" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td style="vertical-align:top;width:1%" class=""><div style="width:116px;height:116px;margin-right:10px;border-radius:5px" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="width:116px;height:116px;margin-right:10px;border-radius:5px" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="width:116px;height:116px;margin-right:10px;border-radius:5px" class=""><br class=""></div></td><td style="vertical-align:top" class=""><br class=""></td></tr></tbody></table><div id="chq_signature_extensions" class=""></div></div></div></div>
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