No real new reports of hummingbirds. Most of the same are still around with an occasional series of chases indicating new birds. The Rufous has been sitting in the middle of the feeding area outside my kitchen window quite a bit lately and seems to be involved in more of the chases than before.

 

I've seen a few Chestnut-sided and Tennessee Warblers in the past few days. The Cooper's Hawk(s) have reduced the dove numbers in the yard by at least one in each of the past few days.

Still seeing the same regular hummingbirds in the yard. There are occasional chases in the yard but most of the time it's pretty quiet. The Rufous is still seen regularly. A possible male Rufous was reported by a neighbor across the street where I thought I heard one a couple of times recently. I'm probably seeing multiple adult male Ruby-throats but I can't say if more than one is a "regular". There is one "regular" that appears to be a female. The rest are young male Ruby-throats. At least a couple of them are "regulars" with the others just here long enough to stir up some chases.

 

Non-hummingbird migration is still slow in the yard. No warblers to report this week other than one Yellow-throated every day so he may be a resident.

Still seeing most of the same humingbirds. They've been spending more time higher up in the trees lately. I assume this is an indication of new birds passing through enough to leave them less comfortable sitting out in the open. The chases are short lived and occasionally involve more than two hummers at a time.

 

Yesterday, I saw a Veery in the yard and today I observed a Swainson's Thrush. Not much warbler activity observed lately but my time outside has been limited as well.

I'd pretty much accepted that there had been no recent migration as I haven't seen much of the hummingbirds in the past few days. I've seen the usual five or so birds each day but there would be times when I couldn't even find one. They haven't been chasing much and have even sat while another fed near by. I believe they've begun accepting each other.

 

This morning was once again slow but things picked up around 10:00 am. I was just outside and observed three hummers zip past and they were followed by two more. I observed all five circling the yard a few times. They appear to all be Ruby-throateds other than the one Rufous.

 

Warbler migration picked up for a couple of days with a few Blackburnians joining up with the usual species. Lots of vireos this week. Quite a few Common Nighthawks have been flying south over the yard as well.

 

 

I've had more time today to watch the action in the yard. I'm still observing the same birds in the same parts of the yard that I have been for the past couple of weeks. The Rufous is still active across the backyard along with the adult male Ruby-throat that has been in the back corner by the well and a few young males in the back (one with a broken bill often seen on the left side of the yard and one with stippling but no red feathers on its gorget that stays along the right side of the yard often sitting on the old clothesline). There has been another young male with minimal spots on the gorget that has been a regular in the front yard. I've observed some crossing over of territories of each of these birds today.

 

These may and may not be the same birds that I've been seeing. Many banders will state that the results of their color-marking of birds during migration indicates that there is a regular turn-over of birds that look alike leaving the homeowner to believe it is the same birds that they're seeing. I'm not sure if this is true in Florida where there are not "hordes" of hummers moving through. Because the "same looking individuals" continue to migrate to the "same locations" in the yard, I believe they are the same individuals. This is not to say that there aren't look-alikes that are here only temporarily as well.

 

Last winter I believed I had a young male with a small central gorget spot along with one who had two gorget feathers on the left side. I was also seeing "an" adult male Ruby-throat in a number of places. We banded one of each of these birds and marked them with a pink stripe on their foreheads. Within the next couple of days, I'd had a number of sightings of these birds without the stripe indicating that there was more than one of each of them.

 

I'm likely seeing some new "look-alike" birds today that are stirring up the chases. It's been a slow day of watching other birds as I've seen a Red-eyed Vireo and a few Yellow-throated Vireos but no warblers.

 

One interesting hummingbird sighting today was of a new one feeding at a number of purple Passionvine flower. It was a young bird with a medium sized red centralized spot on its gorget. The passion flower is not red or tubular. I'm not sure if he was actually getting nectar or just checking them out. Maybe finding insects.

 

Another interesting sighting was of at least two individuals bathing in the pink porterweed outside my livingroom window. I've got a sprayer hooked up that sprays into a porterweed that has had half of the plant cut away so it's like you viewing from inside the plant. One hummer was bathing by sitting on a clump of wet leaves while the other was facing a light spray taking a shower.

 

Nothing of note to report. The Rufous is still around along with an adult male Ruby-throat and a number of young/females. Thursday evening I was concerned as there was no hummingbird activity after I got home at 7:00 PM but all hummers were accounted for on Friday morning. This morning was the first time I regularly witnessed three hummers chasing around the yard. At one point I observed two young Ruby-throats sitting a foot apart on a branch. This quickly led to another chase that picked up a third hummer. Not much non-hummer migrant activity today.