2015 Ruby-Throat Hummingbirds

No hummingbirds here yet. The feeder's been out and waiting. But the birds we have are acting like Hummingbirds, especially the Thrasher, chasing off everything, (even a squinney, which is pretty funny to watch.) Mr. Robin started in on the act, too. Sigh...

Thanks Elijablue! I've only seen one female so far, but the males have been around constantly. I tend to see more females later in the season and then a lot, once the males start migrating south.

Chilly, it's funny how strange bird behavior can be sometimes. About the time I think I have it figured out, some species does something I've never seen them do before or starts eating a food I've never seen them eat. I guess birds don't read those bird books that tell them how they're supposed to act :o)

I have been on at the PNW (Portland area) for a week & did not see any hummers. Disappointing.

The hummers are busy around here. I haven't put out any feeders since there is a lot blooming - milkweed, lots of honeysuckles, nepeta.

BUMP...

Wow, here it is the end of July already and this thread has been inactive since May!

So...what's going on with your hummers?

My Agastache is blooming and the Cardinal Flowers are slowly starting to open...two of their favorites in my yard. The Cardinal Flower is early this year - maybe all the rain we've had. That means they'll be done early, though, so I'm not looking forward to that.

There was a female investigating our Siberian iris in early June. We have hosta in bloom now & Raspberry Wine bee balm, but that is all which would be of interest to them.

Our Hosta are also just starting to bloom. The Cardinal Flower plants are really full and healthy this year, but It's usually something the hummers can go to in September, not August. The Agastache blooms last practically forever, but my plant has shrunk some this year. Thankfully, I do have feeders up, but soon the hummers won't have too many flowers in my yard.

I never got to plant things like Zinnias or other late & long-blooming annuals this year because I had minor hand surgery at the end of May. Now it's kind of late to be planting anything so they'll mostly have to find flowers other places and come to our yard for sugar water and insects - we have plenty of insects :o).

I've not had feeders out this summer because all of the previous year's history. Just no sense in it. But history also shows that I can pretty much put them up now because I start getting visits. In fact, I did have one recently visiting all the plants There's plenty there for them but I'd like to see them closer up.

I have hummers frequenting my flowers and feeders every day. Sometimes, I see 2 of them zooming around! My Cardinal flower is just starting, as is the agastache and the Major Wheeler. The bunnies took down the wheeler in the spring, so it's had to start all over :( My hummers really like the larkspur, which self seeds all over, but I really didn't think that was a hummer flower. The bee balm is just about finished and the penstemon has a little secondary blooms, but not much. The hostas are blooming, and the coleus is starting to set seed. Think that should keep them happy!

Yay! Glad to see others are having hummers around.

Here are a couple of pics I took a few days ago.

bump...
Not too much activity on this thread for a while. Where is everybody?

The hummer action in our yard has picked up more and more, like it normally does in late summer to early autumn. I figure much of it is migration from the north coming through.

What's surprising is usually we see mostly females (and immature males) by this time, but there still seem to be adult males around.

There's still a lot of chasing, but they're also managing to take turns at the feeders more without too much hassle, also pretty unusual. I'll see a male, then a few seconds later a female and so-on.
I did see a male this morning that was looking kinda plump, so I expect it to start thinning out soon.

This pic was taken about two weeks ago. I haven't unloaded more recent shots.

I saw a female last spring, but nothing since then.

They are obviously swarming back south.

a few more

Good luck to them.

Only one? Sorry iris. Didn't you see more last year?

Frank, it sure looks like you have lots of hummers. Nice pics! When do they start leaving your area? Ours are usually gone the first week of October (too soon).

The fall migration seems to vary more than the spring one. I always see my first one March 19, 20 or 21. In the fall I see my last one between middle October and the end of the first week of November. Now it is very dry. Many trees are losing leaves. We have none of the usual wildflowers. I don't expect them to slow much this year when they pass through this area.

This message was edited Sep 12, 2015 7:55 PM

Hummers are very active here. Feeders need refilled almost daily. I see the last of them usually October 4th. The latest has been Oct. 10. We've had a lot of rain this week. About 3 inches. Trees are still green. I have 4 darting about, keeping each other from the feeders.

Pics 1 & 2 - young male
Pics 3 & 4 - mature male
Pic 5 young male testing the air

Boy am I jealous, Frank! You have such a looong hummer season.

Great pics, beclu! That's a lot of refilling. Is that all season or mostly during migration?

Our weather is cooling down. We've had a lot of rain this year and more Thurs. and Fri.. I know hummers enjoy light rains, but I was surprised to see a little male at one of the feeders sipping and fluttering his wings during a heavy downpour (no thunder or lightning). He looked to be thoroughly enjoying himself.

I have to unload my camera of recent pics.

Here's one shot, anyway.

Nuts - usually I only have 1 or 2 during the season. Migration is the time I need a lot of nectar. Its cool here this morning, 51 degrees. That may encourage them to move south. Mornings have been in the mid 60s mostly until now.

This is a good website with lots of info about hummers: http://www.hummingbirds.net/migration.html

Hahaha...sounds like during migration they all head on down to "Beclu's Buffet".

Hummingbirds.net has been my favorite hummer site for as long as I can remember. I report my first sighting every spring. I know it's a favorite of many DG members and I think it's listed on one of the stickies. Great site.

Wanted to let any new members know about it.

Thanks...good idea!

Well, I haven't seen any adult males in a few days. Now it's only females and juvies. The fact that the males were even here this late is surprising...they normally leave during August.

Adult males are gone from here, too. This is their usual time to leave. The adult female takes over feeder guard. She looks pretty "fat" though, so maybe she is about to leave too. Several juvies still chasing around.

Picture is thru a very dirty window...

I still had a couple of Hummers as of yesterday or the day before. They usually leave here sometime in October.

I am certain that they are all gone from New England.

I still have females and juvies. Some of the females are starting to look chubby, but not all. It won't be long before they're all gone :o(

1) Bath time
2) Sharing...a rare sight around here

The mature males are gone from here also. When the naked ladies first appear the males seem to go into a feeding frenzy. By the time the lilies are almost all bloomed out the male hummers are gone.

Very nice photos.

Well, they're gone...sigh :o(

Bye little hummers...be safe. See you next spring.

*Sighing* along with you. Mine are gone too. I don't recall seeing them in the past week or more and the liquid in the feeder isn't dropping. It always makes me a little melancholy when they leave. :(

This message was edited Oct 4, 2015 10:55 AM

I had one little hummer at the coleus this afternoon. She was really working those flowers! I'll keep watch for the next day or two if there are any stragglers.

Still one hummer here. A lone female, but she is getting chubby.

Happy that some of you still have hummers. The locations are interesting, though. Wheaton is not far from me so I figured yours would also be gone. I expected you guys further south would still have some, but only some of you do...but it sounds like the remaining hummers are gearing up to head south.

I can see why Hummingbirds.net says it would be really difficult to track the southward migration. There's not a very consistent pattern in different areas.

Well, I'll keep my feeders up for another two or three weeks in case there are any stragglers.

I still have at least one immature, not sure of species. End of September is end of main migration but we can get strays through mid-October.

I have seen three this morning. Here are two.

Thanks for the pics and reports everyone. It's nice to know some of you are still seeing some.

Anyone want to see pics of my empty hummer feeders? :o)