Date: 09/07/2023

Number: 16

Our 3 resident adult males have been really playing musical chairs recently! Up to just recently, I knew specifically where to find each one, as each has his own distinct territory. When they start molting, they always shift around and find more "quiet" spots away from the commotion of all the juveniles, but close enough to a feeder. And they will usually shift around several times during this process. Sprite is the most reliable and doesn't move too far from his dominion. I know exactly where he is and observed him all throughout the day today. One of the others, either Sparky or Maverick, is back overlooking the other half of the back yard from a dead oak branch about 12-15 feet up. Both of these guys have utilized this location in the past, so I'm not 100% sure which one was there today, but I spotted him all throughout the day. And both he and Sprite would fly to me and perch closer anytime I would approach these locations, which is common for all 3 to do, as they are quite familiar and comfortable with me. I was not able to locate the 3rd adult male resident today, but that doesn't mean that he isn't here as there are just so many nooks and crannies that they hide out in amidst all the brouhaha of the juveniles. I spend a good chunk of time out there with them each day. This time of year, I work hard to monitor the adult males as I do like to know departure dates. The earliest departure date we've had for an adult male was September 6th and the latest was September 14th. We're obviously in that window now.

We had 2 dozen+ during peak time through a week or so ago. That number is down a bit, as I can tell some have begun to depart on their journeys south, but we still have the majority with us. Last year, our last juvenile left on October 15th. It takes 5-6 weeks from the departure of our first adult male to our last juvenile.

We've had another hot spell here all of this week, back up into the 90s. When it's that hot, even the Rubies settle down during the heat of the day. Tomorrow, we start falling back down into the 80s and will be in the high 70s a week from now. We need rain, which hopefully, we'll get this weekend.

Our Rubies continue to visit both feeders and flowers. Some flowers are definitely fading from the duration and intensity of this hot summer, but we have worked very hard to keep them all well watered, so we still have a good variety of hummingbird favorites all around. We've had a ton of bumblebees and butterflies this summer as well, which has been wonderful.

Kernersville, NC

Latitude: 36.1 Longitude: -80.1

Observed by: Sophie
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