Date: 09/23/2018

Number: 3

Autumn arrived noticeably right on time this year. Mother Nature rarely follows a calendar here in the Ohio Valley. But last Wen. Thurs. and Friday all had high temps around 90 Summer indeed. Until a storm front roared through and brought a drastic drop in temps just in time for the official start to Fall. I last reported that the hummingbirds were mostly ignoring each other as they fueled up on their respective nectar stations. The opposite is true today! It hadn’t gotten out of the 50s in my shaded valley this morning when there was a break in the rain and I looked out to see Lil chasing 2 others from both feeders even though there’s at least 20’ between them and no line of sight when they’re feeding. I keep clean extra feeders ready to fill and took one out hoping they’d spend more time feeding and less doing battle. This afternoon it’d warmed to 68 with the heavy cloud cover of the past couple days persisting. I had time to clean and refill the other 2 feeders and positioned a chair with a good vantage point but kept 1 feeder in my hand expecting Lil’ Little the dominant female to come up and say hi. She was still intent on keeping all the nectar for herself. An exhausted female did soon light and drank deeply. I noticed the feathers on her head and neck looked ruffled and uneven, like molting wasn’t quite complete. The only sound she’d made was with her wings when she checked out me and the feeder. Lil’ is usually vocal. Maybe it was all of those chats we’d had when it was just us left 2 years ago? Turns out that bird wasn’t familiar Lil’! She soon noticed and chased it away! Then I got an earful! She also used the feeder in my hand and came back several times, always with at least a chirp. Her feathers are smooth and brilliant. After I sat the feeder on my side table it was visited by a third hummingbird. I was thrilled to see the beginnings of his ruby throat gleaming like a necklace. I would love a resident male to add splash to the show in years to come. Although I could only count 3 in view at a time, between the flowers in sight and the feeders, I’m betting all 5 are still here. A bird unfamiliar with me personally wouldn’t be likely to drink from my hand or within reach.

Elsmere, KY

Latitude: 39 Longitude: -84.6

Observed by: Jypsi
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