We also get Rufous here , Have seen one and two Ruby's , the past week .
We get Bee Tailed occasionally Females are green appearing a little larger than a Japanese Sparrow , males are camoflage multi , in browns with a large (long) beak , small like Ruby's he is '
Of course , people still like telling me I'm seeing things , Can't disprove that for now , but I have not seen anymore in two seasons , lol But , yes they are really there and about their way ..
Rufous and a few tropical species I imagine are where you are from time to time ,, After all , from the same there is rare sightings of one like opal in Maryland and Pennsylvania , that is not identified ,, (very rare sightings ) ^_^ it happens ,
us know it all ,, with the ( I Dunno , lol
2014 Ruby Throat Migration
hummer activity picking up here a bunch adding more feeders to keep down the fights..LOL. Very few butterflies but we have had so much rain maybe the butterflies were affected by that.
Lots more butterflies here now. About the same number of hummers but they are busy everyday.
Hummers are zipping around like crazy lately.
a little more bf action...couple tigerstripes,a fritillary,cabbage whites (several) and one of these:
OOps, pressed send before I chose the picture.
Is this a red spotted purple?
Also, I got a tiny li'l pawpaw tree! finally.
scarletbean,
I think that is a red-spotted purple! How fun - aren't they gorgeous?! Congrats.
Yes, they are so pretty! That is an old picture, and that year,2012, I had so many bfs I stopped running out to take pics. This year I wish I had a tiny fraction of those.
While checking my Milkweed for caterpillars yesterday I found a clump of hackberry emperor cats just munching away on my common mw. I have pretty much incarnata,tuberosa and curassavica, so I guess I will let them stay rather than relocate them to a field nearby. I m glad SOMEbody is taking advantage of the buffet. I feel like I threw a party and nobody came ! am I gone completely loony to feel snubbed by bugs?! lol!
Hey, I'm dropping by to post one of my videos from this week. We are supposed to get a cool front tonight, from the 90's to the 80's but it will probably be the catalyst to start them south again.
http://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=c4XJ0WwQ9Gs&u=/watch%3Fv%3DPan-FcHg1qM%26feature%3Dem-upload_owner
Heads up all you Southerners ;-) The hummers here in Northern IL have been hyperactive for 2 weeks now, and absolutely INSANE in the last 3 or 4 days. They're definitely getting ready to move!
I imagine o ! Its down right chilly down here today.
Hoping to see migration activity when we get to the coast !
Before the front came in,
Super cute pics, everyone!
Joy - I am green with envy! Always love to see your videos, though.
Since I don't get enough hummers to force them to share, it's a rare treat when they decide to.
Wow...great pics!
I was REALLY upset today! I'd bought 2 new feeders with bee & wasp guards to replace 2 which didn't have them. There were so many bees & wasps on most of my feeders that the humbugs were afraid to go near them. Is there any other way to deter them? Luckily, later in the afternoon, the bees & wasps went away.
Sallie - Often, what looks like bees are actually Yellow Jackets and they're very aggressive. I have noticed they seem to leave later on in the day or as shade moves in. Yellow Jackets can sting repeatedly, unlike bees, and their sting is very painful.
I once read that hanging one of those toilet deodorizers near the feeder sometimes helps (the kind that hang in the toilet). Supposedly the insects hate the smell, but I never got around to buying one to try - maybe next year.
I might have to try that- thanks!
We still have hummers here in the middle of Iowa, but only 3 this year - last year before they migrated, we had 7 or 8, which is a lot for me! :) Has anyone else noticed a decrease in the birds getting ready for migration.
Oh, heck no! It's quieted down a bit now (last night it looked like we had 3 or 4), but a week ago we had at least 6! That's more than we've ever noticed before. Of course, this year I put up 10 feeders in prep for the migration instead of the 4 or 5 I usually have.
Our migration started earlier and has lasted longer than in past years. It appears that the numbers are about the same, but counting is impossible. We had a front come through last night and the numbers are way down today.
Same here in NE Mississippi. Ours were late coming, but last week there were over a dozen fighting for space on the four feeders. We were 60 F this AM with a brisk northerly wind and I have only seen a half dozen hummers today.
Ken
Spent some time outside this morning and saw a Ruby-Throat on my Firebush.
I went two weeks without seeing a single one, then saw one yesterday. It did not stay long and I think it was simply heading south and took a "feeder-break".