Date: 08/31/2009

Number: 1

Still seeing Ruby Throats in NUMBERS! This week our area experienced flash flooding due to an unusual amount of rain (East Central Iowa). Our hummers must not have had good access to their usual flowering plants so spent even more time at our feeders. Making Hummingbird nectar is almost another part-time job for me at this point - LOL! But I know that it won't be long before a good number of them leave, and then finally the stragglers that we usually see that come and go until a little after the first frost. We always leave at least a feeder or two up until almost Halloween... just in case.

FYI - we are also now seeing the same type of behavior in the songbirds. We seem to have more goldfinches than we have ever seen here before and they are emptying our feeders! Also a larger number of chicadees, nuthatches, and various woodpeckers are now visiting our feeders... at the rate things are going it won't be long before we see our elusive Pileated woodpeckers coming up from the deep woods (they don't use the feeders, but we see them more often as the season turns). Another sign that fall is coming... the Blue Jays are now starting to check out the feeders. Our Rosebreasted grosbeaks are still here, along with the Robins, Bluebirds and once in a while we do still see a flash of orange (Baltimore & Orchard Orioles). Although I did not personally witness this, I was told by someone who observed it that the squirrels we burying their gatherings (although quite shallowly in the ground). It's probably anyone's guess as to how early or severe the upcoming winter will be.

Central City, IA

Latitude: 42.2 Longitude: -91.5

Observed by: April
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