Hey Beth,

Silly me...when I saw the title of this post I thought it was about the vehicle - not the bird, in which case I could easily explain their sudden (and welcomed) absence.

As far as the bird goes, I notice them for several weeks in early spring when they are migrating. Then they seem to disappear until sometime in July, when they re-appear in great numbers at the feeders again. Are they nesting now and not that noticeable?

Anyway, have been wanting to "write" for some time now and let you know how much I enjoyed getting to know you at the spring swap. Glad we had that time at the restaurant to talk. The pink/white crinum and max. sunflower are growing by leaps and bounds!

Nelson

I notice the same thing. I had them at my feeders in May, and haven't seen any now for a few weeks.

Although I heard the drought was supposed to be hard on them, I DO see lots of Japanese beetles, more than I remember in a long time.

todd

A few have been showing up at our feeders in the Jacksonville area for the past 10 days or so. I took this pic at 7:30 this morning ;-)

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Ok, guess I'll keep looking for them. I love their cheeky attitudes. I have lived here for 17 months and have just now had a chipmunk show up to clean up under the bird feeders, along with several squirrels and their young'uns. I like the chipmunks "cheekiness" too....LOL!! I have one squirrel-proof feeder...its better than a 3 ring circus, watching the young squirrels tring to get at the seed inside.
Nelson....glad that the plants are doing well for you. I really enjoyed getting together with everybody that Saturday. Looking forward to the fall swap :-)

Nelson hit it right on the head..they are nesting so don't frequent the feeders as much...they will be back with a vengeance in July so have plenty of sugar water on hand cause they are going to hungry little hummers!! :) Then of course later in the summer and early fall the migrating ones from farther north will start coming through so you'll have lots of them before much longer.
Jan

I don't have any feeders for them but I usually spot a couple feeding from my plants every day or hear their distinctive hum whiz by even if I was too slow to glimpse it. They don't seem scarce around here at the moment any way.

Danielle

Terramadre: Do you happen to know what kind of hummer this is ? Is it a black-chinned ? I have this kind at my feeder in Birmingham, and I wasn't sure; I googled "alabama hummingbirds" and found some pictures there. Your picture shows exactly what my hummers look like.

I have only observed Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Archilochus colubris at our feeders. The one in the above pic may be a juvenile male as some red spots show in the gorget.
The one in this pic is an adult male.

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Here is a link that might be useful: HB Species Listed by State