Is anyone missing their hummers out there? During our 'hot spell" of 80
plus degrees (15 June-21 June), I had 5-6 Rufous at my feeder
constantly. My sister, who has been feeding hummers at the same location
for 10 years, had the same situation. On the 22nd, the morning was
foggy and temps much cooler. She had one hummer. I had none. Now she has
a intermittent couple that buzz through and go through the flowers but
not at the feeder. One adult male went to the feeder and acted like he
didn't know how it worked. They must be transients. The birds adored my
blooming catonester but no dice now.
A friend of ours, who lives in the Santa Clara/Stanford area of
California, has the Rufous come through in the spring and about 2-3
weeks after her first spring sighting we can expect them up here. Now I
am anxious to hear from her if she spots them coming back through. We
have kept a log on this for over 10 years. This spring she commented
that they were 2-3 weeks early like 1 January. Perhaps they will be
early this fall. Who knows??

Cleo Andreasen
Anacortes, WA
cleoand at fidalgo.net