2014 Ruby-Throat Hummingbird Migration

I agree, scarlet. All the honeysuckle out there is a huge draw. They will show up soon, I think.

The female is smart, isn't she duckmother. lol.

It seems like I am getting one hummer sighting per week. I guess the hummingbirds are just like everything else this year, and are slow to return full force.

YAY!!
Our Hummers have arrived! Our Hummers have arrived!

(The day after our Baltimore Orioles and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks showed up.)

all three of those showed up for me today!

I haven't been home much, so I haven't seen any birds, BUT something is emptying the feeder

That's great! Maybe they've been carpooling from down south to save energy.

Pollen, looks like you could use a bird-cam to ID your mystery nectar drinker.

Hooray for you both on the hums, grosbeaks and orioles! I wish we had baltimore orioles here. If they do come, I have never seen one. I saw my first cedar waxwing here a couple months ago, and I didnt think they were in my area. Anyhoo, I saw a hummingbird this morning! She was at the feeder in my butterfly/hummingbird garden. I just changed nectar last night, so she got the first sip. This feeder is on a tall shepherds hook, and I have planted some cardinal climbers at its base. I hope it will climb the pole and get lots of flowers. I had the cardinal climber on my front porch trellis 2 summers ago. It was a nice sight in the mornings to see the hummers darting about while I had coffee. This year I have flying saucer morning glories and hyacinth bean on the trellis. I saw the flying saucers on a fence last year while I was running errands. The blooms were so big and profuse I stopped the car and pulled into the driveway to knock on the door of a perfect stranger's house just to gush over their flowers. The lady was delighted and offered me seeds if I would stop back that fall. So, I got the seeds and hope that mine will be as lush as hers. She said she had hummingbirds on them all summer. The hyacinth bean is a good climber, and it's leaves are dark with deep red veins and the purple flowers draw hummers. Later they will become bright purple clusters of flat wide bean pods. very pretty.

pics: 1 & 3 are the front porch trellis and 2 is the major wheeler honeysuckle.
all are from last year.

I have a motion activated camera. The manufacturer says it probably won't work well with Hummingbirds (too small equals to short a focal distance). Maybe it is time to try and prove them wrong.

Go for it Pollen, I've had it work for me. They are not beautiful pictures, but they document activity at the feeder. I even focused the camera on a trumpet vine bloom and had luck.

I've barely seen any hummers the last few days, though that's the way it is some years. They were coming frequently for a while and now, just as some of my hummer plants are starting to bloom nicely, I'm hardly seeing any hummers. Oh well, they'll be back...sigh.

Well, so far this is the only halfway decent hummer pic I've taken this year. The others were a total blur.



This message was edited Jun 3, 2014 10:35 AM

Great photo, nutsaboutnature. I'm still waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting. Very late this year. I think someone must have a lot of feeders up and they've found those.

Strange year in general, Cville.
I've barely seen our Orioles for a few days and the same for our Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. I haven't even seen a female hummer yet (unless, somehow, I've just missed them). I've also spotted some birds I've either never seen before, or rarely seen, in my yard.

Yes, strange. I agree.

I never really get any hummingbirds until the end of July when the males start coming back through. So I'll be lucky to see any at my house for the next two months. Sigh.

Since last year's hummer activity was also strange, I decided to revisit last year's hummer thread to see when the activity started to pick up here.

Last year the males were very late so the females showed up right after the males instead of a week or two later like they normally would.

We had a lot of slow periods with very few hummers until about mid August. Then the activity quickly built until we had more hummers at once than we've ever had here. By then most of the males were gone, but the females were constantly zipping all over the yard. It was really exciting. I assume some of it was migration, but I know not all of it was because I recognized some of the habits of individual birds.

We still have hummers around, but not that many or very often.

This message was edited Jun 3, 2014 10:30 PM

Yep, same here, I saw one at a feeder 2 days ago. 3 years ago, they came and the numbers just increased starting in late april. Last year, a few came, and then nothing til mid June. I guess it is the same this year. I hear a few in the trees. My black and blue salvia just started blooming, so I hope it is a hummer harbinger.!

Our hummer activity has picked up "just a touch" in the last couple of days, but that doesn't mean it will continue since it's been sporadic so far.

Had a little male at the feeder by our kitchen window this morning and he spent a little bit of time relaxing on the branch I have attached there. Window shots aren't the best, but they are convenient.

Nice shots, nuts.

Thanks, Margaret!
The hummers have been "few and far between" so far as have the photo opportunities, but things have been looking up the last few days with a little more activity...yay.

The hummers and the hot weather have kept me busy changing my feeders every 2 days. They have really arrived now. I see at least 10 each day. Yay!

That's really cool, scarlet! I've seen comments from other people in TN that have barely seen any hummers this year. Maybe they'll be seeing more soon.

My activity has started to pick up. Nothing like what you're seeing, but still regular visits. I'm thrilled to say I finally just saw my first female of the year...about 1-1/2 months late! She showed up by the feeder at our kitchen window about 30 minutes ago!

A bit odd, but this year so far, The hummers I have are almost exclusively using feeders. Last 2 summers they spent most of their time at the flowers in my yard and used the feeder as a supplement. That is how I prefer it. It seems to me that everything is a little late to bloom this year, so maybe the hummers will make the switch. I should keep a garden diary to track these things. Anyhoo, I enjoy watching the hummingbirds foraging in the flowers. I have read that they come back to the same areas from year to year, as do the offspring. I don't want them to be feeder dependent. What if we move away? I doubt the next tenant will be a hummingbird nut like me. Most of the plants are perennials, and I figure they will be here if I am gone.

I wouldn't worry too much about the hummers in your yard if you move away. Most likely they're visiting other yards in addition to yours.

Even though I have blooms, they're mostly coming to my feeders. Later on when plants like my Agastache and Cardinal Flower start blooming they'll visit the flowers more often, but still come to the feeders. I also keep branches attached to the shepherd's hooks the feeders are on. It allows them to alternate between resting and eating, plus there are always little bugs near the feeders for them to eat.

Sometimes they find a source of blooms especially appealing to them and it may not be in your yard. My neighbor has a huge red Hibiscus that she brings indoors every autumn where it blooms all winter then quickly returns to blooming when she puts it outside. The hummers think they've died and gone to heaven when they find that plant. They even ignore her nearby feeder, but use mine and ignore most of my plants until later in the season.

There are probably blooms in other places right now that are getting your hummers attention.

I don't get the summer hummers, but when the fall migration starts, I see the hummers make the rounds from plants to feeder. It's a big circle! Fun. I put a black and blue salvia right along the patio this year, hoping to get some close views.

I like that..."Summer Hummers"...has a nice ring to it :o)

Yep, You are right. I know they have other places to feed. And, the roses of sharon are blooming all around the neighborhood as well as mimosas. I don't know if the hums nectar from mimosas, or if they are picking out the many insects that come to the sweet fluffy flowers. It is a bit early, and I think I am rushing things. Zinnias i put in from seed in may are just now blooming. cardinal flowers are just beginning to form stalks and buds. The morning glories and cardinal vine are getting tiny buds. I like to have the cardinal vine grow entwined around the shepherds hook where I have hung a hummingbird feeder.

Hi folks, I am glad to see comments here that the hummers are late everywhere. We are at our summer place in the UP of Michigan and I have seen one female last week but there seems to be only a couple of males. They have not even barely stopped at the feeder except the first week we were here June 10th. I have plenty of Nepeta and I see they are feeding on that. There doesn't even seem to be any battling going on. Any one in the upper midwest have any females yet?

They are very late here this year.

Scarletbean - sounds like your plants are just a little ahead of mine (zone difference). My Cardinal Flowers are growing nicely, but don't have stalks yet. It also looks like a few of the many seeds I've been scattering are finally turning into plants.

Ottahand7 - how lucky you are to be spending the summer in the UP! Yes, the hummers are late and the pattern is odd. I've only seen one female so far, which is very unusual. Be patient. I think (I hope) we'll all begin to see more activity once the females finish nesting and males start migrating south from Canada.

Thanks for the IL intel on the hummers. It is lovely here in the UP. Mosquitoes are the worst ever this year. At least with no hummers I am not standing at the feeder with my camera and doing some gardening instead :).

Mine came - and left. Haven't seen one for a while, now.

Here's the ONLY one I snapped a pic of. Female, but I did see a male. Shot this one through the back door's window.

Hack

That's a good one!
I have never been able to get a good pic in 3 years! I have many great shots of the feeders! haha. Or some blurs, but nary a stationary hummer captured on film for me.

I have had good luck with getting photos when there are a bunch of underlings trying to get to the guarded feeder or Monarda. They are so hungry that they get brave so I can stand there and they will come in when the elders stay away. Then usually it becomes a feeding frenzy when the bullies stay away. I don't have any fancy camera either - it is a Samsung point and shoot with 15 zoom but I can stand ten feet away and in the Monarda I can be standing right above them.

I've seen 2 male hummers back in May. Nothing since, even tho I've had plenty of nectar plants & have kept 2 feeders going. Lots of the small white & yellow BFs, only a couple swallowtails, no Monarchs. A very disappointing season so far. What's goin' on?!

Just popping in to see what is going on here. Our feeders have been really busy this year after several disappointing years. But I just don't have time for lots of photo taking anymore.

Taken back on June 25.

I have finally been seing hummers in the flowers. Monarda is really a great magnet for hummingbirds. I like the fact that they are composite and the birds are somewhat still while dipping into each of the many throats on each bloom. A good photo op.
I am puzzled also by the lack of butterflies. Up until this weekend I havew only seen a few cabbage whites or a sulphur here and there. ( spring brought a few swallowtails at the beginning) Where the heck are they?!?

These pics are from previous years.

I finally had the first female hummingbid at our feeder 2 days ago. That makes about 3 males and 1 female here. Last year they were uncountable.

There are no butterflies to speak of here. 2 different Monarchs - 1 Cabbage White 1 Clouded Sulphur 1 Milbert's Tortoishell, a couple of Canadian Swallowtails in early June, many Admirals. Noticibly absent are Skippers of all kinds, and Fritillaries. Also no large bees and about 1/2 of the usual small bees. The 37 below temps several times in the winter have taken their toll I am afraid. Usually every dung pile and puddle in the road to our cabin is loaded with puddling Crescents and Satyrs. Virtually nil this year. I sure hope it turns around next year.

Good news is that the loons on the lake have had a chick this year. That is the first time in about 5 years. Now if the eagles can stay away.

Scarletbean - I agree about the Monarda - here are photos from last year. The Monarda hasn't even bloomed yet here - in fact I have a Blenheim Royal iris that has a bud for my final TBI on or around July 15th. What a year!

Ottahand, nice pics! I guess you will have a loon-a-chick. tee hee!

I have been seeing some more females at the hummingbird feeders and in the flowers. They are sipping for a pretty long time, I wonder if they are caring for babies?

Really great pics, everyone!! I sure don't care if some are from previous years. They're still wonderful to look at.

Ottahand, I'm not seeing too many large bees this year, either. Normally we have tons of Bumblebees even if there aren't a lot of Honeybees around. This year the numbers are way down.

We have lots of bumblebees but I have not seen any honey bees in the yard this year. :(