A rare sight

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent Hovering for a sugar fix is a way of life for all hummingbirds, but this one, photographed at a hummingbird feeder in the backyard of a Broadway cottage in 'Sconset, should be sipping sweet water down in Texas or out in California. This black-chinned hummingbird, often mistaken for female ruby-throated hummingbirds, was first spotted in this yard about three weeks ago, according to island bird expert Edie Ray. It was sighted again on Nov. 7 and finally left the yard for good on Monday. Ray added that it is the first time a black-chinned hummingbird has been documented on Nantucket and, she believes, only the fourth time in Massachusetts. She said that Sue Finnegan of the Wing Island Banding Station of the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster, Mass. banded a blackchinned hummingbird last fall and that another one was seen on Martha's Vineyard a few weeks ago. Nantucket's only hummingbird is the ruby-throated hummingbird. Seeing a black-chinned hummingbird this far north, guessed Ray, is probably due to its extending its range or being blown off course.