We had a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at our Salvia "Lady in Red" plant early this morning. There was a lot of interest in early summer when we asked the question on our blog, are Ruby-throated Hummingbird numbers down? More people thought numbers were down than up. Now that the hummingbird season is drawing to a close, we can say we've seen more hummers since the young have fledged. We usually see the maximum numbers of hummers in mid to end of August when males, females and the young are all still here.
We haven't seen any male hummers since about Aug. 25th. Now we are seeing female and juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbirds still migrating through "Bobolink Farm," our property in southern NH. Keep your hummingbird feeders up for a while longer, it will not deter the hummingbirds from migrating. Their migration urges are instinctual. We always keep some planters of Salvia "Lady in Red" on our deck, where they are protected from frost. The hummers love it and stop there for refueling.
There is a an interesting research website called New England Hummers that is tracking the populations and spring and fall migrations of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in New England. So for all of you that have hummingbirds, you can participate by entering your sightings of hummingbirds here.
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