It was a grueling eight-and-a-half-hour flight from Miami, but it was worth it. We landed in Sao Paulo, Brazil at 5 a.m. and proceeded to a local airline to fly to Curitiba. We chose to see the countryside between Curitiba and Florianopolis, our final destination, instead of flying.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds are tiny little bundles (3.5 grams or 0.12 ounces) of activity that must eat constantly, especially at this time of the year, when they are migrating southward to their wintering grounds in Central America. Here I report that their aggressive behavior of chasing other hummingbirds away from a food source — as reported in last week’s column — takes place even during tropical storms!

Liz Baldwin, the assistant director of Biodiversity Works, Inc., e-mailed me that her camcorder for recording the movements of the otters, which is located at the west end of Crab Creek at Quansoo, is missing. Liz and Luanne Johnson have been working on the Island’s otter population for over a year! Liz doesn’t care that much about the camera, but wants the data. If anyone knows about the whereabouts of the camcorder please contact Liz at [email protected].

The Vineyard birders predicted storm driven birds to land on our shores. Our wish came true. Hurricane Irene brought the Vineyard a group of unusual birds, two vagrants and a few that we expect sooner or later in the fall.

Unusual birds, rare birds or birds which are very similar to more commonly seen birds can be difficult to identify. There were two such sightings this week.