Date: 07/19/2023

Number: 12

Like my husband always has to remind me, all of a sudden come mid-July, we have hummingbirds everywhere! I fret through May and June and wonder where they all are, as the adult males are really the only ones visibly active, while the Mama hummers are tending to their nests. And what's really funny is that the resident adult males are also taken aback as well when there is all of a sudden a flurry of fledglings around and the mama birds always seem to take a little break before commencing to sit on their 2nd set of eggs.

It's always so hard to tell how many we have this time of year. I would say that 12 is a conservative estimate. We have at least 3 resident adult males, many adult nesting females, and a number of fledglings at this point. There is lots of chasing, chattering, play, and fighting going on now. They are feeding from all the flowers and feeders. I've got 9 feeders out at this point and will add one more in a strategic location soon.

The photo from our friend Paul Nielson shows either an adult female or juvenile feeding from Cuphea Vermillionaire, a real favorite of many hummingbirds. We have quite a bit blooming currently, including lots of Vermillionaire, many different varieties of Salvia, butterfly bush, Tithonia, Lobelia, Pentas, Lantana, Verbena, Shrimp plant, Porterweed, Zinnia, Nasturtium, a couple different varieties of Fuchsia (Gartenmeister is their favorite here), Major Wheeler's Honeysuckle, Bee Balm, Joe Pye Weed, Milkweed, Tourenia, Dicliptera, Hibiscus, and some others.

At one of the feeders tonight, I watched an adult female hold fast and firm as an adult male attempted to bully her off the feeder. She stuck her beak out at him and glared as if to say, "leave me alone and get outta here"! It was hilarious. The adult male waited for her to finish up and returned 4x to that same feeder.

Kernersville, NC

Latitude: 36.1 Longitude: -80.1

Observed by: Sophie
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