Is it possible? .... Or, am I dreaming? ....

Here it is July 27 at 9:30 am and it is only 74 degrees Fahrenheit?!  Pinch me!  Am I dreaming?  This simply is not possible in Charleston, is it?  Here I sit, in what is normally a cave in the summer at this time of day -- blinds down to block the heat of the sun.  But the blinds are up and there is a window cracked open so that I can hear the birdsong, and the sound of the rain.  Yes, there is a steady rain out there and when it falls more heavily, I have to close the louvered window a bit.  But my AC is not running because it simply is not warm enough -- in July!  What a treat to look out the windows and to see all of the birds flitting around through our oaks.

Wait!  What was that?!  Slightly  smaller than a Carolina Chickadee maybe, but flitting about the leaves like one.  Oh, there's a Carolina Chickadee in that branch!  But, wait a second, there's another bird, slightly smaller and no black cap that just flitted into the open a foot away from the Chickadee!  Grey-greenish back, thin stubby beak (!), kind of plump, short and round, not sleek like a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. Whitish belly and breast, was that an eye-ring?  Much too small to be confused with the Tufted Titmouse and there's absolutely no tuft!  Definite short, single white wingbar and yellowish streaks through the short tail!  Where's my  bird guide?!  Where's the camera?!  Where are the binoculars?!  No birdy, don't fly away!  Come back!  Can I believe my eyes?  The brain is saying Ruby-crowned Kinglet!  But that's not possible, is it?!  It's JULY!  That's a bird that winters here.  Did I really see a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET?!  Or am I dreaming? ... I am constantly scanning the trees hoping to see it again.  I have located the guide, the camera and the binoculars.  The picture of the Ruby-Crowned Kinglet in the guide looks like what I saw.... Scanning and hoping to see it again.... Was my vision distorted by rain on the window?  Sigh....  Come back, birdy!

It is mid-morning, late July, 74 degrees outside, my AC is not running and the window is open!  Is it possible?  Or, am I dreaming?

Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Charleston, SC, November 2009  Did I see one of these, today, in July 2011?  Is it possible?

Frequency graph for Ruby-crowned Kinglet for Charleston County, SC from eBird.