beautiful little creatures!!!
you sure are doing something right!!!

Great pics! I am not seeing as many mature males here in south Ark either.

This morning being aug-15 I saw 3 adult males feeding at the same time. This surprises me as I expect most males to be gone, but not yet.

What kind of a feeder is that? I haven't seen one with that many perches before.

Steve Mass

Steve

This is a new style triple decker by first nature introduced this spring. I found mine in march of this year at "Lowes". It also has a moat on top of the stackables.

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Hi Hummersteve, I will try to be modest. By the way my Salvias are just blooming like crazy. I have had up to 4 Lucifer hummingbirds since June 5. Quite rare even for here in SE AZ. Could be because Art Hybridsage is having such terrible weather in TX. Today I had Lucifer, Calliope, Costa's,Broad-bill,Broad-tail,Black-chinned, Magnificent, Blue-throated, Rufous, and Anna's. Sorry no pictures.

desertsage

How cool that you get all the different kinds passing thru your area. All I ever get is rubythroat but I will take it.

I'm ready here in Central Florida! Last year saw my first fall bird in Sept. so we may still have a couple weeks to wait, although a couple friends have had birds all summer close by to me. We pretty much think they nested here.

My friend and I ran out this morning to Lowe's and amazingly found your feeders Steve. They were on sale for $9.44, I think. Great price since you can use them singly as we never get the numbers you do up there. We grabbed 3 out of the 4 they had and left smiling. I had not seen them there before and I usually check each time I am there.

Kinda concerned about the feeding ports. They are awfully small and rectangular. Obviously the birds can use them successfully but are they hard to keep clean since they are so small?

We're seeing an increase in activity too, but our birds are never content to share a feeder like yours I have 8 in the yard and it's rare that 2 birds share one at the same time.

Interesting feeder design. Does look like it would be hard to keep clean.

mboston

Good for you finding the feeder on sale. Yes you can use singly or together depending on your need. Since the base comes apart they are quite easy to clean. For the bottle I just use a soft sponge for swipeing the inside , I find them no problem to clean.

In the beginning I too had concerns about the slotted ports, would they really use them. So come august and I had so many it was worth a try. Obviously there is no problem.

Steve, I can see mold on the ports in one of your pics. Have you tried soaking the feeder in a weak bleach/water solution? That's what I do whenever I spot mold.

I have two that I know of. I can't get close enough or see well enough to identify them, but I know one is light and one is dark. The light one visited my feeder for the first time that I am aware of this morning. They have been sticking to the plants and most frequently the firebush. The dark one has only recently shown up maybe in the last week, however the light colored one has been here for a good month that I know of. Seeing this little guy really motivated me to get back into the garden.

I slept in this morning and when I raised my blinds the light colored hummer flew from the tree into my direct line of vision, hovered as though to greet me and flew to the feeder hitting each hole in the feeder. What a wonderful way to begin my day.

Kathy

I forgot to say how awesome Steve's photo's are. It was exciting looking at them, I can't imagine what the actual experience must be like!

Natal--- Thanks for bringing the mold to my attention those feeders are being soaked as I speak. I usually soak my feeders when I notice it but with so much activity I had rushed things and missed it. All my feeders will have been bleach soaked by morning'

KLtampa-- glad you enjoy my pics it has been rather crazy around here this migration.

Kathy - saw your postings on the butterfly forum. Did you know that there is a guy in Valicro that has a Florida Hummingbird website. I think it is floridahummingbird.net

If its not that and you can't find it - come back and I will get it for you. He keeps track of hummers in our area and we have banders come in the winter months to band our birds for research purposes. They are trying to figure out where our wintering birds go in the summer.

Steve, thanks for sharing the photos. I wanted to point out, in the second picture of your initial post, the difference between two of the hummingbirds. The hummingbird in the top left, caught in flight, has white tips on the three tail feathers on each side. If I understand what I researched earlier this season, this would indicate it is an adult female. In the same picture, the hummingbird on the far right, in flight, only has white on two and a half of it's tail feathers on each side. This would indicate it is a nestling from this year.

Possibly someone with more experience than I, can confirm this coloration to confirm what I have read.

Best year ever here in PA too. My males are still here too and going crazy trying to guard their feeders. Great pics!

mboston

As far as the small ports go regarding cleaning. Whether its dirt or mold visibly spotted just soak them in sink half full of hot water and add 1 cup of bleach for about an hour or more. They will be clean, then rinse well with cold water.

I use much less bleach (couple tablespoons) and soak for about 15 minutes.

Amazing. The photography is excellent. I am in Maryland and have 5 regulars right now. Love them!

Awesome pics Steve! The jealousy is in full force right now!!!!!!!

Migration is going full speed here as well. Yesterday was my busiest day ever as I was able to identify 11 different hummers.

Hi tracey

Thanks I guess the force is with me this year. Activity was still strong as of this evening 8-27.

Dan-- Way to go! I hope your numbers can keep rising.