Are the hummers leaving? (1 Viewer)

Curtis Croulet said:

Sorry if I've missed an earlier post. What species do you get? We own a piece of property between Show Low & Concho, and I often wonder what species we might see if we can ever get back to visit our 1.18 acre "ranch"! The habitat is pinyon-juniper woodland. I'd expect Broad-tails, but do Black-chins get up there? Magificents supposedly occur up to the Mogollon Rim, and I often wonder if any of them ever get beyond the Rim and onto the plateau.

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Oooo, I've never birded over in that area at all but would sure love to. Lots of great birds are reported during migration.

I've logged 103 species since moving here September 2001. I can PM you the list if you're interested.

Re: hummers. Never have heard of magnificents coming up onto the Rim but I'm sure no authority. Here in our Overgaard yard, we get black-chinned, broad-tailed, rufous and calliope all summer, and I've also been told that Costa's has been reported on the Rim but I've not yet had them in the yard.

We actually had two waves of black-chinned this year; the first two pair fledged their broods, the "kids" disappeared leaving only the adults when the rufous showed up and the season-long donnybrook was convened! The poor broad-taileds could hardly get to the feeders with all the proprietary behavior going on! This year, however, we didn't have any calliopes that I saw, but we were also waaaaaaaaaay down in numbers all the way around. Never got all 3 feeders up, and probably only had just around 30 hummers total at any one time. The two female rufous are still hanging in here despite one night already of freezing temps, and regularly into the high-30s/low-40s for the past week.

Had a dickcissel come in this morning! Only the 2nd time in 2 years that's happened. What a beautiful bird!

Well with the tail end of Jeanne over us yesterday and steady winds of 40 mph all yesterday, I was heartened this evening while I was mowing the lawn to see that I still had 3 hummers that I can count so not sure if the 4th one is still around or not but I was a happy camper this evening as I refilled all the feeders

KCFoggin said:

Well with the tail end of Jeanne over us yesterday and steady winds of 40 mph all yesterday, I was heartened this evening while I was mowing the lawn to see that I still had 3 hummers that I can count so not sure if the 4th one is still around or not but I was a happy camper this evening as I refilled all the feeders

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Boy, KC, you've really caught it from hurricanes this year, huh? I'm so glad to hear Jeanne gave you a wide berth. And that most of your hummers are still around! I sure missed having the huge crowd this year. There's just something about getting dive-bombed and hummed and buzzed every time you step outside your own back door! LOL!

Katy Penland said:

Boy, KC, you've really caught it from hurricanes this year, huh? I'm so glad to hear Jeanne gave you a wide berth. And that most of your hummers are still around! I sure missed having the huge crowd this year. There's just something about getting dive-bombed and hummed and buzzed every time you step outside your own back door! LOL!

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Katy, I was especially pleased to see my little female still around. Heck, she is almost another pet. She will come to my finger as I am holding the feeder. The kids in the neighborhood get such a kick out of watching this.

We are in for some cooler weather next week so that should cool the waters down and slow any potential storms that might be brewing out there. Hopefully anyway.

KCFoggin said:

Katy, I was especially pleased to see my little female still around. Heck, she is almost another pet. She will come to my finger as I am holding the feeder. The kids in the neighborhood get such a kick out of watching this.

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Awwwwwww... I've had hummers remain on the feeder all the way to the door and I've had to gently shoo them off before going into the house, but I've *never* had one perch on a finger! How cool is that?! That little one of yours must feel so comfortable around you, she knows she can trust you completely.

We are in for some cooler weather next week so that should cool the waters down and slow any potential storms that might be brewing out there. Hopefully anyway.

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I'll keep my fingers crossed for you -- and for everyone in the southeast. I cannot believe poor Florida this year.

Katy Penland said:

Oooo, I've never birded over in that area at all but would sure love to. Lots of great birds are reported during migration.

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Thanks. I know Overgaard is, so that gives me a good idea of your surrounding habitat.