Despite a thick blanket of snow on the landscape and temperatures pushed down to - 17 C or colder by arctic winds last week, a tiny hummingbird sits on Ken Summers' deck in Abbotsford, warming his toes in a towel and sipping heated nectar on apparatus that includes an electric frying pan.

The tiny bird, an Anna's hummingbird that's about 4.3 grams and four inches long, had been visiting Summers' feeder every day since early December. But when the arctic front was about to blow in last week, Summers and his wife Gail knew they had to come up with something to keep the nectar from freezing to keep the bird alive.

Summers, a freelance wildlife biologist and bird enthusiast, and Gail mentally went through a list of electrical appliances - warming tray, crock pot, electric blanket - before settling on the electric frying pan.

They put a couple of half-inch cork mats inside the frying pan, turned it on low and wrapped the whole thing in a thick towel so it wouldn't be too hot for the bird's feet, or the plastic feeder.

Summers put a red disc-style hummingbird feeder in the centre of the towel, and set the whole homemade apparatus on a patio table on their south-facing deck, which overlooks the blowing winds on Sumas Prairie.

Sure enough, Anna the hummingbird showed up daily just before dawn and came back several times throughout the day to fill up on the high-energy sugar water (one part sugar, three parts boiled water for winter. It should be one part sugar, four parts boiled water for summer feeding).

"Sometimes he just sits on the warm towel for a while," said Summers, and then the bird pops over the deck's glass railing and disappears into the surrounding evergreens.

While it seems incredible that a hummingbird would be hanging around these parts over winter, let alone through an arctic blast, the Summers' little hummer is not alone.

Sherry Jury of the Wild Birds Unlimited store in Abbotsford has recorded 75 sightings of Anna's hummingbirds as of Friday (Jan. 20).

"And 25 just in the last two days," said Jury, whose husband Cliff looks after the Wild Birds Unlimited store in Chilliwack.

Jury said many people have come up with ingenious ways to keep their hummingbird feeders from freezing over the winter in order to keep the tough little birds alive.

"They'll hang a trouble light near the feeder. They'll use socks or bubble wrap or cardboard (to insulate the feeders). Someone used a tiny hot plate and hung a basin feeder over it. They'll build shelters. One man by Mill Lake basically built a shelter and the hummers go in there and hang out to stay warm," Jury said.

The historical territory of Anna's hummingbirds has been along the west coast of the United States and Vancouver Island, but in recent years they have come further north and further inland to stay the winter and some are now staying year round, she said.

When the Jurys' first opened their store eight years ago, an Anna's hummingbirds sighting was rare.

But now Abbotsford seems to be a hot spot for Anna's hummingbirds, and Jury has had about a dozen reports from Chilliwack.

"They've adapted extremely well. They really love Abbotsford," said Jury, who will be taking part in the national Great Backyard Bird Count on Feb. 17 to 20.

They're able to survive winter days by eating insects, spiders and tree sap. At night they go into torpor, when their hyper-fast metabolism (their hearts beat 1,260 times per minute) slows down so they can survive the long cold night.

And of course the hummers visit backyard feeders. But Jury warns people if they put out feeders, they have to stay committed because the birds may be depending on that food supply to survive the very cold days.

"I know some people were changing the feeders every 15 minutes because that's how fast the solution was freezing (last week). One woman said she hasn't been able to leave her house. There are many dedicated, passionate people out there. They love their hummers," said Jury.

If you do have Anna's hummingbirds in your yard, call Jury at her Abbotsford store, at 604-852-1960.