As I mentioned on Monday, the huge flock of Hummingbirds that we had been seeing for the past several weeks disappeared over the weekend. Instead of the dozens of birds we had been seeing, by Sunday we were down to three or four birds.
It is impossible to give an accurate count of how many we were seeing. The most I ever got in one picture was seventeen, but there were others just outside the frame. When I brought the empty feeder in to clean and refill, the bare pole would draw a swirling ball of birds, buzzing like hornets whose nest had just been disturbed. There were so many of them moving so fast that we could only guess at their number, but I’m sure it was somewhere between thirty and fifty.
After a few days of very few birds, the pace has picked up again. Since Tuesday afternoon, we have had about a dozen or so Hummers and are refilling the feeder once a day. A couple of weeks ago, we were refilling four times a day – averaging about 10 pounds of sugar a week.
The other two feeders are still being guarded by birds that have staked a claim and chase away any other bird that tries to feed there. I think that the little male we nicknamed the Red Baron may have headed south; he is no longer guarding the feeder closest to the house. That job has been taken over by a female who is just as aggressive in protecting “her” feeder.
The Baron would not tolerate other birds, but he ignored humans. The little female does not like to see me within ten feet of the feeder and chatters at me constantly whenever I’m outside and she wants to eat.
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