Not the easiest job, skibby. I think if you are outside and can hear them, you'd stand a better chance of seeing them on a moonlit night. Waiting inside without hearing them, could be a long night. I've read that the best times (on a bright night) are dusk to midnight so bring supper with you. If I had a very open area to view them at night, I might investigate setting up a GoPro type of motion camera on a tripod outside that might capture a flock. But the moon moves as we rotate, so lighting is the big problem. To me, if one is at the shore, on a boat or in Montana where there is uninterrupted viewing, it's one of those magical moments in life to see night migration. I hope you do see a flock. It's fast when it happens. We were at the base of the Connecticut River in a boat awaiting a half-million swallows to swoop into the reeds for the night. I did get pictures, but it was fast. Let me know if you see the magic. Best of luck. Nocturnal Migration - Colby College Jane

No. Most will nest and raise young in the northerly portion of their migration range. The young need to be old enough and strong enough to migrate south in winter. And a few diehard species don't migrate at all :-) https://www.allaboutbirds.org will give you range maps showing migration routes, breeding grounds and winter habitat for any US hummingbird species.

I learned more about sand and gravel today than I ever wanted to know. :) I found four ways to describe the product I need, and each approach would be sourced from different types of companies: 1) 10 Mesh or 12 Mesh Granite Sand. This would be sourced from a gravel manufacturer, and whether you have this product in your geography is hit or miss. Find the manufacturers. 2) 10 Mesh Garnet Sand, which is a crushed granite from garnet stone used for sandblasting. It is very attractive stone, but finding a supplier at 10 mesh will be tough, short of ordering a container from China. 3) 12 Mesh Silica Sand, ordered from a water filtration media company. This looks like a promising idea to me. Almost every municipality has water processing facilities, and many of these use crushed granite as one of the filtration steps. There must be local suppliers of this material. 4) Cherry Stone aka Poultry Grit #1 (1/16") or Grit #2 (1/8"). This should be available somewhere in your geography, but you might need to travel to a rural city.

http://www.rubythroat.org/RTHUAnatomyMain.html More information than one probably needs or wants, but it's a good project. Female hummingbirds are definitely here. She took one look at Buddy on the feeder and he zipped away. She immediately took over. She does ALL the work - he donates sperm and flies away - she builds the nest, lays the eggs, alone, she feeds the children through their fledging time. She makes about 100 trips a day to feed her children. I'm planting more flowers. Jane