Gone!

The past two days have seen a significant decline in the numbers of hummingbirds at my feeders. A decline along the lines of 20 to 30 at a time to one. I've always wondered what it is that makes all the birds leave at the same time. I filled my feeders last night in the hopes that others north of us experienced the same thing and their hummingbirds will find me soon.

I occasionally write about other wildlife seen around the property, and want to tell about what happened on Monday night. About 2 a.m., the dogs started barking like they were seeing something they didn't like. I got up to see what it was. The moon was nearly full and provided quite a bit of light along with all the artificial light around. A lone coyote was at the western edge of our yard just sniffing around. He finally ran off to the west and my dogs quieted down.

An update on the well: It is dry!!! This morning there were eight flatbed trucks waiting to go in and take the equipment away. I will be glad when they're gone. I want to dig out a pond in the area where they cleared to provide some habitat for Wood Ducks and Prothonotary Warblers. It would be perfect for that! It shouldn't cost all that much to get a bulldozer out there to dig it out.

More Hummers

The hummingbirds are slowly increasing in numbers at my feeders. This morning there were 20 to 25 at first light. I moved the feeders to the backyard because my dogs were bothering the birds quite a bit in the front. So far it doesn't appear the move had bothered them any.

Fewer Hummingbirds

There were noticeably fewer hummingbirds around the feeders this morning. I probably only had between eight and twelve. Maybe they're taking advantage of this light northerly wind and going on south.

A Short Walk In The Woods

I went to the woods this evening to see if I could find any fall migrants. I didn't find much. The mosquitoes were really bad in a few places. I did find a few Baltimore Orioles and a couple of Great Crested Flycatchers. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were everywhere! I kept looking at each of them hoping one would turn into a warbler, but no such luck! I did have a late Purple Martin flying around.

What used to be a nice, quiet walk in the woods is ruined now by the gas well being drilled on our property. The well itself is so loud. Then when the trucks move in and out it is even louder. Used to all I would hear is the sound of the traffic on FM 565. Hopefully they won't find anything and they'll just leave. Of course they'll leave us with three acres cleared out that we'll have to fight the tallows on until the larger trees can establish themselves.

Birds sighted (11 species): Blue Jay, Carolina Wren, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Carolina Chickadee, Baltimore Oriole, Great Crested Flycatcher, Purple Martin

Hummers Increasing and Fall Migrants

Last evening when I got home from work, there were five to eight hummingbirds buzzing around the feeders. I was very glad to see them! I wonder if the northerly winds we got from Hurricane Humberto brought them in.

This morning, there were anywhere from ten to fifteen birds at a time around the feeders. It seems to me that it was around this time last year when they really started increasing in numbers. I took some video of them on Sept. 16 last year, so it's close.

A really neat thing happened as I was watching the hummers this morning. A male Baltimore Oriole lit on the pole where the hummingbird feeders are hanging. He stopped for just a few seconds and then flew off to the tallow tree in the front yard. He was joined by at least one more in the tree. I usually see several Baltimore Orioles in the trees around the yard in the fall. Normally I don't see that many in the spring, but this year was an exception. I saw quite a few of them in the spring.

I think I may try to get out in the woods this afternoon and see if I can find any fall warblers.

Fall Migration

Fall migration is underway. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get out and observe any of it! I hope to get out in the woods this weekend. Hopefully the birds will be around with the oil/gas well drilling underway. It's a noisy process. Not to mention the 3+ acres of hardwoods that were cleared to make room for the well.

The hummingbirds are still very light at my feeders. Two or three at a time are all I've had so far. If I remember correctly, it was the middle of September last year before the birds showed up in large numbers at my feeders. So, it should be any day that I'll see them.