PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) — It’s a cold, foggy February morning, and Bev LaBelle is on the hunt for hummingbirds.
Walking along a trail in Southeast Portland’s Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, she pauses as a flicker of movement catches her eye.
It’s an Anna’s hummingbird, the most common hummingbird species on the West Coast. Hovering in the air with dizzying wing beats, her throat patch glitters with purple as the morning light catches it. LaBelle knows this bird. She’s been watching it for weeks, ever since the first hints of spring stirred in Portland and she began her regular rounds here…