I saw one around 7:00 this a.m. and nothing since. Yesterday one little one spent the entire day chowing down on bugs, plant nectar and feeders. Not 10 minutes went by that she wasn't seen going from plant to plant so I knew that she would more than likely be gone before the week-end was over. Now I will busy myself with cuttings, seed collecting and cleaning up debris and weeds. Trying to put a positive spin on this sad time of the year..

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

I still have a couple hummers buzzing around the yard. I just got a brilliant male oriole, too, which is always great. It will indeed be a long, maybe brutal(like the last couple) winter without our hummer friends. However, for the first time next year I will have a hummer garden planned. I hope to get my lady in red salvia started around March 1st, so that will be something to look forward to.

Zone 5a
East-central Iowa

Penny,


As of today I am hummerless also. I had one yesterday and 2 the day before. Can't rule out migrators coming thru, but last year 9/15 was the last day for straglers. I am actually very pleased with the number of hummers I had in my gardens. At peak, I saw 6 at one time. Better than other years although I enjoyed the first couple of years when I saw the fenmales daily. The past 2 years the dominant males have ruled the feeders and I hadn't seen females till the babies left the nest. Lets hope next season bring better weather. ie, heat and sun!

Pam NJ 6B

Well Pam the juvenile who decided he liked the maple tree next door seems to still be here. I didn't seem him after 7 am yesterday but I just saw him this evening at one of the test tube feeders. By his actions I am 98% sure it is the same bird. Whe he finished at the feeder it was straight back up into the maple tree. I had one other brief siting at 11:3o this morning at the honeysuckle but that one seems to be long gone. I did take two feeders down but cleaned and refilled the test tubes and will do the same for the two remaining feeders first thing in the morning

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Yes it truly is a sad time for hummer lovers. I have been seeing 2 or 3 each day it seems though not looking all the time. But this one passed thru late this evening about 8 and sat there gorging itself for at least 5min. Could this be my last , yes it could , but last year I had hummers well into oct. does not seem possible this year. Anyway grabbed this shot just in case.





Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

There was an odd hummer weather event late last week. For several days we were under an extra tropical rather cold unmoving low pressure area. On Friday I don't think temperature got out of the 50s. It was bad migration weather. By Saturday morning the low had pretty much worn itself out and before going off birding I checked the garden. Boy was I surprised to find at least 10 hummingbirds in the garden at once; it was a beehive. When I returned in the afternoon everything had returned to normal, instead of 10 there were more like 3. I suspect that during the storm hummingbirds must have looked around locally for food and over the several days of the storm more and more found my garden. Once the weather cleared they left. One of the birds left over that afternoon was stressed, shaking and shivering, perhaps one that had just found the garden. That afternoon was the only time all summer I saw two hummers sitting on the same tomato cage.

There were also quite a few hummingbirds out in the woods. During my surveys Saturday and Sunday I noted quite a few hummingbirds in the woods with the warblers and certainly saw just a small fraction of the true numbers. This all has to end soon.

The only time I ever saw numbers like that at once up here was during spring migration last year and there were at least a dozen out back vying for feeder position after a heavy rain storm. Most were probably still heading north and spotted the feeders out back and the lots of tree and shrub cover for the night. By next morning they were all on their way to their appointed destination and I was left with a lone male. It was short lived but a wonderful experience.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

As of the weekend we still have hummers visiting our garden and feeders. Saturday and Sunday we saw a 'surge' (about 6 at one count) in numbers and lots of buzzing about the garden. (Weather was sunny and clear and 75 degrees)

Today I'm going to do some gardening and I wondered if it's time to take cuttings of the Salvia Black and Blue and some of the other plants..? Penny, or others in Zone 6 more or less, can you share any advice on this?

I suppose I just put the cuttings in water until they root and then into potting soil in a sunny window for the winter? (Can you tell I've never overwintered cuttings...?!) Seems like a long time to nurse them along (from now until May or so) but I guess it's possible... It will be worth it not to have to buy new plants in spring time. (Oh, sorry, I think I'm getting off topic here. Maybe a new thread is in order...?)

It makes me a little sad to feel fall in the air and know that our HB season is winding down. But it's fun while it lasts, and I've enjoyed all the photos and posts on this forum~~it doubles the fun of having the HBs in the garden to be able to share all the experiences!

J.

Judy in Zone 6a
Cincinnati (Anderson Twp.)
Southwest Ohio

Judy
Yes do your cuttings now. I should have started a few weeks ago but didn't get around to it. I have never had any luck with rooting Black and Blue in water. I have had the best luck in late summer directly in ground in a shady moist spot. Otherwise I put them in very moist potting mix out of direct sun. Don't let the soil dry out. Best done with a main stem and not a side shoot. side shoots tend to be weaker.

Some of those that graced your garden over the week end may have been mine.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

I was down to one hummer last week, but saw three this weekend. Still have one, as of this morning. It was my first season of hummer gardening and getting birds in my yard in spring. An absolutely delightful experience and thanks to all of you for guiding and helping me along.

Suchie

My two regulars left last week. I have been seeing one hummer a day since then. I can't tell if it's the same one. The numbers are down from last year, when I had four fighting over the flowers up to the first week of October.

Priya
Zone 7, Maryland

Well, I think you alls hummers are here now. Saw 5 involved in a mutual battle this morning. sheesh They can't be too bright can they? You would think at least one would realize, "hey, everybody's busy fighting, I can have all the garden to myself for feeding in peace right now". But no, all of them went at it! We have had an adult male here again for about a week now.
dell

I am still seeing some, but drastically less then a few days ago. The migration peaked a bit earlier than usual here. It could be due to the early frost they had in northern wisconsin a couple of weeks ago.Usually this week and next week are peaks here.

Lisa

Lake Country
Southern Wisconsin
USDA Zone 5b
heat zone 4/5
sunset zone 41
http://thehummingbirdgarden.blogspot.com/