That is an amazing photograph! He's so cute!

Turks cap will take your flower beds over if you dont want it to. I have about 100 that you can have.

Oogway said:

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That is an amazing photograph! He's so cute!

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Thanks, he made it pretty easy to take. First time to ever hold one and I could feel it's little heart beating strong. Don't know if that is normal or not.

woodiewood1 said:

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Turks cap will take your flower beds over if you dont want it to. I have about 100 that you can have.

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I haven't figured out a way to control TC yet but mine is planted with plenty of room. Would like it to stay shorter and thicker but so far not happening though I cut it back several times a year.

our numbers have doubled over the past 2-3 weeks. We have had 3-4 that were around most of the summer but now it is an aerial show around our Esparanza plants and feeders.

My fifteen or so hummingbirds are still here (NW of Huntsville). Is it unusual for them to stay this long. The few times I've had the migration come through to my feeders they were gone in one to two weeks. I've had them for at least a month.

[url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/gardening/article/Hummingbird-migration-13197709.php]https://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/gardening/article/Hummingbird-migration-13197709.php[/url]

Hate to keep bothering the forum with questions. But, a friend of mine suggested I take my feeders down so the hummers will continue their migration. Always before they left on their own. Hummingbird experts, what should I do? (I have more than I had two weeks ago.)

"Some people may be concerned that leaving a feeder up will prevent hummingbirds from migrating in the fall. This is a myth. Hummingbirds (and all migratory birds) have an internal "clock" that tells them when to migrate. No healthy hummingbird would ever stick around just because you've left your feeder up in the fall. However, late migrants, young and inexperienced birds, and hummers that are not completely healthy may be helped by the presence of your feeder, especially in areas where blooming flowers are scarce in fall and early winter."

https://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/bwdsite/learn/hummingbirds/feeding-rules.php

Thanks guys/gals ?? .... I did a little research right after I posted and feel much better. I sent what I found out to my friend. Whether she uses it or not I don't know because it was her husband who told her he read an article that said to take them down. ....

You can leave up all winter. They will help the odd Rufous Hummingbird that stays around. Had one stay all winter one year. Even down in the 20's.

Sometimes I add a red ribbon or a red artificial flower to a new clear feeder because red catches their attention as they fly around searching . I remove the ribbon or fake flower after they find the feeder.

So I looked out back a few minutes ago and look at all the mini-Hummingbirds on my feeder! Or are they Hunnybirds? Yikes!!



Called A&M Entymology and they said just leave them alone and tonight they'll go back to the hive and I could take the feeder down!

I've had bees on ours as well. I assume they are stocking up for the winter, and flowers are in shorter supply these days. I think it's harmless and probably beneficial long term to feed them.

toolshed said:

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I've had bees on ours as well. I assume they are stocking up for the winter, and flowers are in shorter supply these days. I think it's harmless and probably beneficial long term to feed them.

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That's a good thought...actually I'm fine with feeding them, they just can't swarm my back porch. I'll move the feeder down to the yard and hang it from a tree after dark and they can knock themselves out on it tomorrow.

Beekeeper here. Yeah, those girls are just desperate for anything this time of year. When it gets under 50 degrees they are clustered so won't see many at your feeders. But a hot day like this, I had scouts all around my house looking for anything!

Until about two days ago, Monday(?) I had a lil ruby throat hanging around one of the small feeders I keep filled. He was perching and sipping for the better part of the morning and when I would step outside, he would chirp up to the tree and scold me for interrupting his breakfast. Guess he wanted to get fueled up before heading further south.

Thanks, BMo, for your amazing photos! This thread is one of my favorites on the Aggieland board because of your picstures!

katlong said:

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Beekeeper here. Yeah, those girls are just desperate for anything this time of year. When it gets under 50 degrees they are clustered so won't see many at your feeders. But a hot day like this, I had scouts all around my house looking for anything!

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I was glad to give them something to eat for the day. They drained the feeder and disappeared after dark, so no harm no foul.

BMo what is your camera setup?

Ratsa said:

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Thanks, BMo, for your amazing photos! This thread is one of my favorites on the Aggieland board because of your picstures!

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You are very kind. Thanks so much for looking and I'm glad you enjoy the photos.

If interested, hummingbirds and more hummingbirds.

jskin261 said:

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BMo what is your camera setup?

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The Anole is with a Canon but I primarily use Sony most of the time.

CAMERA Canon EOS 7D Mark II
LENS Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM | C
ISO 640
FOCAL LENGTH 600.0 mm (1387.0 mm in 35mm)
APERTURE f/6.3
EXPOSURE TIME 0.0008s (1/1250)

I, too, enjoy your photos and the green anole pic is another fave-we have quite a few of the little green friends in our garden hanging out and eating moths.

Thank you for the links to your photo collection. Very nice. I did see you caught a glimpse of a rare Astro bird among what appear to be some Blue Jays...

Oogway said:

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I, too, enjoy your photos and the green anole pic is another fave-we have quite a few of the little green friends in our garden hanging out and eating moths.

Thank you for the links to your photo collection. Very nice. I did see you caught a glimpse of a rare Astro bird among what appear to be some Blue Jays...

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Thank you and thanks for looking. Very glad you enjoy them. Ninth inning walk off by ABreg on Jun 27. First mlb game my oldest grandgirl had ever attended and she got to see that. You bird ID skills are uncanny. :-) Couldn't believe I caught the ball off the bat.

I am bumping this thread for 2019 (hopefully BMo will post some more great photos!) because I have a question for the bird experts: I had a male ruby throat and perhaps either another juvenile male or female bopping around the two feeders I had up but the last week/week and a half they have disappeared. I clean and change the food out regularly and at first thought perhaps I was just missing them, but I don't even hear them in the trees anymore. Should I take the feeders down, keep replenishing the fluid, learn how to mimic their squeaky sounds? Most of the neighbors don't have feeders so I'm not sure what happened unless they were just heading north and stopped by for a month of R&R.

Curious to see what others will respond. The same thing happened to me. I had several drinking from my feeder for a month, then two weeks ago they disappeared.

They're all gone from our house too.

Disappeared from my feeders about two weeks ago ago as well.

I had 8-10 a couple of weeks ago. I saw one yesterday but have not been seeing any for the past few days. I will keep a feeder up for another couple of weeks but I think they have likely moved on until fall. I have plants that attract in my yard so they have food here if they show up. Last year I had a couple stay around all year but I'm not sure that will happen this year.

Not many shots this year as they haven't presented many.

Thanks for the reply; I guess I won't have any stay the summer either. In the past I would have at least one or two all summer and I got such a kick out of their cheerful buzzing about that I will miss them.

As always, your pics are outstanding. If you see anymore Astrobirds this summer at the "park," enjoy the view!

Thank you. I'm sitting here at my desk in the home office and a female just visited the feeder outside the window.

I've had more hummingbirds today than I recall seeing in March. I don't remember when the migration southward starts, but I'll leave one feeder out with fresh nectar until winter.

We've had a male over-summer the last two years and he is back again. We assume he is the same bird as he perches at the same spot on one of our tomato cages between feedings. But who knows for sure? There will be an occasional other hummer, so we keep one feeder through the summer.