Hummingbirds in the Southeast yet?

Hello All,
Has anyone in the Southeast, or S.C., G.A. have any hummingbirds in their yards yet? I have not been buzzed yet and I think it is a bit late for the hummingbirds to have not come yet. Last year, my hummer arrived in Mid March and braved cold and rain to stay in residence. Already its April and not one yet...has anyone else noticed? Perhaps I am a bit impatient for my wee one to fly back for the season too...

None here either!! But then I haven't gotten my feeders out yet, do you have yours out ErzsebetF? I've got them out on the counter but haven't made my sugar water yet, must do!!!

I have seen a few on the Texas coast, but nothing like last year. There are 4 that visit my house regularly. All males too. Black chinned and ruby throats only. Where are the females??? Hopefully they are just running a little late this year.

Russell

I had two this morning, at my bottlebrush, and I kept thinking I heard another a little later on this afternoon, but couldn't ever see him. Just heard his little chirping.

I saw my very first one yesterday.

I had my first back 3 days ago. It has been cold here in March.

For a while, I put up feeders, but the didn't visit the feeders nearly as much as the plants in my yard. So I gave up on feeders and just keep my eye out for them in the garden. They love my bottlebrush and Mexican cigar and Black and Blue Salvia.

Just put up my hummer feeders two days ago, and saw my first hummer this morning!!

First sightings last Tuesday....

Just saw first here in Saluda SC yesterday. About 2 weeks later than usual.

Migration map shows them all over.
http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html

This message was edited Apr 5, 2013 12:17 PM

Please send some hummers my way!

My 2nd sighting was over the weekend. My third one was just a little while ago. Wooohoooo.

YIPEEEE!!! I got hummers! I just saw my first of the season about an hour ago. It came to a regular seed feeder that is red. He flew around it, figured it out to be no use to him and then flew to the other side of the house where my nectar feeder is. He must have been pretty darn hungry, cuz he fed for about 3 mins straight.
I am so happy! I gotta get my other Hummingbird feeders up now. I think I will take the red seed feeder down til winter. No sense in confusing the hummers, and i have a spare wooden feeder for replacing the red metal one.

I saw two at my feeders over the weekend.....what a happy surprise!

Yep, the hummers are here.!! I am getting a couple of regular visitors morning and late afternoon. I put up 2 more feeders for the hummingbirds and have seen each of them get some use. Onlt one bird at a time. I have yet to see more than one hummingbird drink from my feeders at a time. Last year I had several zoom around, but never 2 at a time nectaring. I see pictures of feeders with all the ports in use, but i don't seem to get that kind of action.
Watching them at the feeders is great, but I am anxious for flowers to bloom in my yard, because I like seeing them at the flowers more than anything. I grow Cardinal vine and Morning Glories on my porch, and the hummers flit about them like crazy in yhe a.m. and they enjoy the bugs on my zinnias,too.

I kept hearing one today, but never did see him. But, I was putting down mulch, so I was looking down most of the day.

I have a pair now..

Congrats EFGeorgia on the pair. I think I've a 'resident' male now. He comes to my honeysuckles blossoms in a regular basic. No female seen yet though. happytail, hope you'll spot the buzzing little jewel soon. Happy for you with your hummingbird zooming in the garden. I seldomly see many hummingbirds at once nectaring. Though, I saw them do so at my neighbor's wondering what's their secrets, lol.

The hummers, at least one for sure, stayed all winter here. I keep lots of flowers blooming year round so they have a source of nectar.

Boy oh boy would I like to have a mated pair of hummers this year. I would love to see some juveniles. I am sure there were some pairs last year, but i never saw a nest or any small ones. The courtship flights and crazy mid-air show off behaviors are so great to watch, and since that was going on last year, i imagine there were some nests. I have several tall, dense trees in my yard, so it is impossible to see them in there. the nests are so darn tiny, and well camouflaged with lichen, etc that i probably wouldn't see it if it was right at the end of my nose.
I try to make a good inviting environment for them to not only sip from the feeders, but to stay and sample the flowers, check out the bushes and trees, enjoy the insects, and take a few mist baths. Other than fresh towels and a mint on their pillows, I don't think there is much more to do except wait for my plants to grow and flower, and hope the hummingbirds decide to stay for the season.

brrrrrr in St. Simon's Happytail. Played golf here in Georgia Senior Women's Golf. I do not play well in cold/windy weather..
Hope hummers come and see you all. It has been a cool spring,,, hope that does not mean a super hot summer.

Hey! where are my hummers? I have not seen one for almost a week. Is it something I said? The nectar is fresh, I got a couple of blooming baskets, what else could I do?
Waiting...(tapping foot)

We have had some weirdo weather this spring. I needed a jacket yesterday and today. Rainy and overcast. Really odd for May.

Ha! I saw a hummer yesterday! Yay! I hope he is back today.

It IS cold lately! And rainy. It is just plain blah.

They go into torpor if its cold, mine always hit the feeders dawn/predawn before flowers open, then they are quiet til evening... dunno why, but it is normal for mine

It was 40 degrees last night and i have needed a sweater all week.
jeez! Still no hummer action.
I saw one in the last few days of April, It flew to 2 feeders, took a few sips and then,weirdly, it flew to the ground. It let me approach and I was 1 foot away. I was looking for injury,sickness or signs of exhaustion. I have never been so close up to a still hummer. After about 5 full minutes (a long time to me) the dog came up and the hummer flew up to the trees unimpeded. He was just sitting there, blinking, breathing, no fluffing of feathers, just on the ground. I was worried about my cats, but I know they are not fast enough, at least for a healthy hummer. I wonder what it was about? Of course I have seen a few hummingbirds since then, but it struck me as odd.
I tend to have punctual hums at my house, usually around 8:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. funny, Huh?

I saw a picture of a hummingbird nest when googling images. The nest was barely bigger than the guys thumb. They get to feeding heavier before they fly south, but while its cool they dont feed as often, and when the flowers are blooming heavy they feed light.

Morning!
Well, I am really getting worried. I know this is a familiar refrain from me of late, But jeez, WHERE ARE THE HUMMINGBIRDS?!?! I have not seen one for about 2 weeks.
It has been cooler and rainy than normal, but there have been some great sunny warm days. I am out in the yard often, and can see 2 of the 3 feeders from inside. NO HUMMERs! I am beginning to think it is a personal snub. Haha. I am changing the nectar about every 3-4 days, the salvia,penstemon and honeysuckle are in bloom,and the feeders are in the same place as last year. I thought I heard one yesterday, but it was a bumblebee. **sigh**

Hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend!

It's not a personal snub. I have not seen any either. Maybe they are just boycotting parts of TN this year? lol. Well, not funny. I keep having to dump the nectar and start over with fresh. I have lots of hummingbird plants so I keep thinking they are filling up there, but they always visit my feeders. I had read that there is a second group that arrive here in late May. It's getting very late in May and I'm still waiting. Sigh! At least I don't feel so alone in this now. :/

Cville- I was just thinking maybe I would Dmail you to ask if you have any hums. Funny! I figured since you are somewhat in my area maybe you would eithe have them or not. At least now I know it is not personal. I read that the cooler temperatures reduce their need to feed. So, I will keep changing the nectar every few days and wait. and wait. and wait. ***sigh***

I know. I'm hoping you and I both seen some soon. I was just reading an article in our newspaper dated April 16, 2009. People were reporting seeing hummingbirds on April 13 that year. Sheesh. Surely they will be here soon!

The weird thing is that I had some show up early..I just checked and the date was April 13. Then for about 2-3 weeks they were coming regularly, only maybe 3-4 of them, but every am and pm. Then about 2 weeks ago they just vanished. I assumed the first few were the harbinger of great things to come. I am thinking of calling an ornithology lab to see if this has happened before, and if there is an explanation.
just for the heck of it. At first I thought maybe my cats were scaring them away, but they didnt seem to worry last year, besides, the cats are more interested in hunting for the bottom of the food bowl,than expending the energy to go after a bird, let alone a zippy hummer. At any rate, I'll keep you posted.

Same here. There is so much honeysuckle in bloom around here that they have a veritable smorgasbord of that right now, but they still have always visited the feeders. I have not seen one to date. That is very unusual. They almost always follow the same path on the migrations.

I was told that when they appear and then disappear they are usually mating and tending to nests. After the babies hatch they return to feeders, etc. I don't know if that is correct because they eat all the time to the best of my knowledge. I have many at my feeders now, and they seem to be increasing. I am in NM. My first sighting was April 17 this year.

That's great that yours are on the increase. Something's up here but I don't know what yet. Maybe the cats ... or at least one of them. :(

Still no hummers. I am watching the honeysuckle and salvia for them too, but nary a hum to be seen. I have made a few calls but no one seems to be able to refer me to a local source of hummingbird behavior.

LikeOhPersicon, I usually get to see the courtship flights, and hope maybe they are just keeping a very low profile. I bet you get to see a few different hummers. We get exclusively rubythroats here, but even though I would enjoy seeing others, my RT's are pretty entertaining and beautiful. I am glad to hear you are getting quite a few. Do you offer feeders only, or do you plant some hummer friendly flowers in addition?

I had one this morning at my large Gladiola, and then again at my Black and Blue Salvia!

Glad to hear that. Still nothing here. :( I am going to take down my feeder or at least stop filling it rather than keep pouring it out. If I see hummers, I'll fill it again. This is the first year we haven't seen any, but there are a lot of hummer favorites blooming right now including lots of honeysuckle. Still, you know how territorial they are and they never forsake a place to feed.

Still no Hummers.
I continue changing the feeders about every 3 days. I am only putting in the smallest amount of nectar, just enough to fill the reservoir so that it can flow into the ports where they put their beaks. I too, am tired of pouring out the nectar, untouched.
***sigh*****

hey all, I have one female here in NJ....she has been here about 2 weeks, and is NOT frequenting any if my feeders. She has found the salvia, honeysuckle and the newest addition a shrimp plant. There is not much else blooming here yet, am waiting for the pineapple sage to flower, 'cause in years past it has made her positively giddy...LOL