Hi David! Here in Henderson county I dont keep any official tally, but my seven
48 oz feeders have been busy busy busy. My numbers are usually low early on,
and so I run just 2 feeders and add more as numbers swell, up to a total of 8.
Refilling about every other day. Some fluctuations I attribute to seasons of
certain plants flowering or fledglings appearance, or even early waves of
migration as nesting is completed.
I also have lots of flowers and my property has several naturally occurring
large patches of jewelweed in the bottom, which has sugar concentrations of
43%. Plenty of small insects/spiders as I'm either very tolerant or very lazy
and let things be.
Carol Reese
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S9+, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: rockyturf@xxxxxxxxx
Date: 7/16/20 1:19 PM (GMT-06:00)
To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [TN-Bird] Question About Ruby-throated Hummingbird Numbers
[External Email]
Last week I got a call from someone in southeast Tennessee concerned about
what they think are very low numbers of hummers this summer. He said Wildbirds
Unlimited employees have said their customers coming in are asking why they are
hardly seeing any either.
I told him I believe I am seeing just as many this part of the summer as I
normally do. I have seen some all summer. However I never see big numbers
until late July and perhaps not until about August 10th. when they start
migrating back through from the north. For those who band and/or really keep
track of Hummingbird numbers, what do the numbers look like this summer to you?
Thanks,
David Stone
Hamilton Co.