Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Catching Up the Past 5 Months
Unfortunately, I've been ignoring this site for the past 5 months, not on purpose, but there's been too much happening lately.
With a couple of exceptions, it has been a slow year for hummingbirds. I have (sort of) kept up with my floridahummingbirds
forum and my Hummingbirds in Florida Facebook group.
I did have at least 9 hummingbirds in my yard in early November,
including one young male Rufous. Unfortunately, most of them left on the first cold front and those who stayed were very quiet
most of the day. I've not had anything to post that would encourage anyone to travel any distance to see the birds in my yard.
Fred will be banding in my yard on Friday the 20th. I'm currently hosting a young male Rufous, a young male Black-chinned,
and 4 Ruby-throateds (2 adult males with bands, a young male and a female). The birds are active in the early morning but
then disappear for much of the rest of the day. The Black-chinned had been seen only 3 times in two weeks but I got good identifying
looks this past weekend. Hopefully, he'll show on Friday.
18 jan 12 @ 8:44 am est
Monday, August 15, 2011
A couple of Hummingbirds
I've continued seeing one or two regular hummingbirds in the yard since my last post in June. There's no guarantee
when I'll see them but I'm sure to see at least one in the backyard and one in the front. I've seen an occasional chase
but I can't identify different birds. So far I've seen an adult male on a couple of occasions but otherwise I've just seen
young males with one or two gorget feathers. I would expect things to begin picking up. Hopefully, I'll find more time to
look for them. I've been very busy with non-hummingbird related responsibilities.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
First Hummingbird of the Summer/Fall Season
I spotted a young male Ruby-throated in the backyard this evening. It's the first hummingbird that I've seen since early
May. Last spring was a very busy time for me and the hummer activity was very slow after most of them left in January so I
got away from posting here. I'll try to do better this season.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Very Slow - 1 or 2 Hummingbirds Left
Activity was dropping before we banded. Afterwards, I counted 9 birds but a week later, I could only find 6. I've
only been able to find one adult male and one female Ruby-throated in the past few days. The Black-chinned was last seen a
week ago, visiting early in the morning on two days. It was depressing to have to walk the yard for 10 to 15 minutes before
I heard a hummingbird. Now I see one or two out the window but don't hear them at all.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Banding Results
We were able to band seven birds in the rain this morning. The first bird in the trap was the young male Black-chinned.
The remaining six birds were all Ruby-throateds: one adult male, two females, and three young males. Notable misses were
the two previously banded Ruby-throateds and the Rufous who hasn't been seen for three days.
The birds had been harder to find recently with some of the regular young male Ruby-throateds leaving their territories
around the same time as the Rufous.
I've seen one young male and two adult male Ruby-throateds in the yard this afternoon that avoided the traps this
morning, including the one that was previously banded. I've seen three of today's banded birds so far, including the
Black-chinned. Each of today's birds received a pink stripe on their head so that they could be easily identified if
they entered the traps a second time.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
20+ Hummingbirds in Yard 1/1/11
On December 29th, a few days after 2 nights of freezing temperatures (27 degrees), I observed at least 16 hummingbirds
in my yard. Included in this number were one young male Rufous, one young male Black-chinned, one female Black-chinned, four
adult male Ruby-throateds, three female Ruby-throateds, and six young male Ruby-throateds. In the next couple of days, at
least 4 more young male Ruby-throateds were observed.
The male Black-chinned rules the seed feeding area of the backyard. The female doesn't have a territory and may
be seen anywhere in the yard. The Rufous had been easily observed in the Flowering Maple in the front yard but had begun
moving around about a week ago. He was not seen today. Hopefully, he'll return. Fred Bassett will be here on Monday, January
17th to band the birds in the yard.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Photos taken on Thursday prove that an interesting Archilochus previously reported to other sites is a Black-chinned
Hummingbird. It's been feeding in the left side of the front yard with the Rufous. Anyone interested in seeing these birds
can view them from the street.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Increase in Activity Including Young Male Rufous
A young male Rufous Hummingbird was observed on a couple of occasions late this afternoon. With a two day freeze
a week ago and another expected tomorrow, the amount of hummingbird activity has begun grow. At least 9 hummingbirds
were observed in the yard today.
Chipping Sparrow and Goldfinch numbers are increasing as well. Deb saw a male Baltimore Oriole in the yard yesterday.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Will Randall was in my yard this morning photographing hummingbirds. He discovered a band
on an adult male Ruby-throated while processing his photos at home. It is the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird
to be documented arriving with a band. I'm assuming he's one of the 53 that have been banded in my yard since 2002. Can't
wait to find out who he is.
There are at least 5 regular hummingbirds in the yard.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Slow Down in Activity?
I had the opportunity to spend some time in the yard today. I was surprised to not hear any hummingbirds. I finally saw
three quiet birds this evening. I'm guessing that there were no migrating birds in the area today so the "residents" were
able to sit quietly enjoying the day.
Not much had been changing over the past month. I've had at least 6 birds daily and could always find a couple of them.
Only one notable bird in the yard this month, a first for the yard, Blue Grosbeak.
Also of note, a couple of weeks ago, while clearing an overgrown area, I discovered a small burrow hidden under
the growth. A little research indicated that it was likely an armadillo burrow. The website stated that they link a number
of holes in an area so each hole won't necessarily be used daily. That meant that more holes could be hiding.
Last weekend, while clearing another area, I found a larger hole, with sand kicked out 4-5 feet from the hole. Research
indicates that Gray Fox dig out armadillo holes so I'm guessing we have a fox on the yard. I've not seen or heard one
but I'm at a loss for what else would dig that big of a hole.
