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She arrived August 3, 2004.
She was seen until March
30, 2005
but was not seen after that
(but--see the next page--she (presumably)
returned Aug. 5, 2005!!.
Typical day (written about 9/1):
She is first heard in the back fence-line trees, tick-ticking, at about 7:00 am.
She spends most of the day perched in these trees, or in the dead sapling in the center of the yard, or in the large pecan
tree. Periodically she sails forth from her perch to chase away an intruding Ruby-throated Hummingbird, or to catch
insects, or to visit a feeder or flower. She is rarely gone from the yard, and if I go out to check on her because I
can't see her, her tick-tick sounds will come from somewhere in the vegetation. Although the whole yard (at least)
was her original territory when she arrived in early August, she's had to cut back since then due to the presence of too many
other hummingbirds. Typically, there are one or two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds with staked out territories in the yard,
plus others sneaking in for a sip, but the other hummingbirds seem to leave the yard for extensive periods (or at least disappear
somewhere). As evening approaches, she spends more and more time in the dead sapling, hawking insects and zooming away
after other hummingbirds coming for an evening meal. About 7:30 pm she begins to spend a lot of time just going after
insects, and about 7:45, she stretches herself all over, flutters a bit while on the perch, and then shoots straight up and
away to her unknown sleeping spot.
Note added 9/15: Although she's still audibly arriving just about 7:00
am, she's leaving a bit earlier now--anywhere from 7:15-7:30 pm.
Note added 9/27: She's now first heard about 7:05 am, and leaves about
7:15 pm.
Note added 10/5: She's now first heard from about 7:15-7:30 (later if
the sky is dark and/or it's raining), and leaves about 7:00 (or earlier if it's raining as it was yesterday).
Note added 11/1: Now that the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have left,
she is not so obviously present all the time in the yard chasing them around, but she's still regularly present, sitting quietly
on a branch watching the yard, or catching insects, or zipping over to one of the hummingbird feeders. Usually when
she flies, she talks, so I hear her periodically through the screen door, even when I don't see her.
Note added 12/19: She's now mostly seen either at a feeder or in the
same Photinia bush as she spent the last 3 winters (assuming she's the same bird). She typically is first seen/heard
at about 7:20-7:30 am (standard time now) and typically feeds for the last time each evening at about 5:20 pm, and then
disappears for the night. When it's warm, she still feeds more on insects than on sugar-water. The flowers are
pretty well done.
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