Kristen - you contributed for me but I can include some data from previous years: 2006 Zone 7, Phila., PA (in the city but on the border line of Montco) Closest first on map = 4/9/06 My first = 4/29/06 (same as this year) Days diff = 20 -------------------------- 2005 Zone 7, Phila., PA (in the city but on the border line of Montco) Closest first on map = 4/7/05 My first = 6/5/05 Days diff = 59 My very first hummer experience was back in 2004 during fall migration season and I don't have the exact date handy of that (my very first hummer sighting ever), but it was some time in mid-August 2004. The first sighting in the area that year was 4/7/04. In general, the males tend to come earlier and in 2005, I only had a returning female, who showed up on 6/5/05. But once I got my first 2 juvie males of 2005 and they got a taste of my spot, one of them returned the next year on 4/29/06. The mom returned later on 5/10/06. There were 4 juvie males and at least 3 adult females that summer and one of the 2006 juvie males showed up this year on 4/29/07. One of the females appeared on 5/10/07.

I appreciate your hard work, but I think an "average" date would be misleading to people who are new to hummingbirds. These people don't understand that hummers don't migrate en mass - there can be months between birds heading north AS the data you've accumulated shows (62 days! WOW!). Furthermore, the dates for the FIRST hummers is important for atleast two reasons. 1. Early in the season there may not be as many natural food sources and a feeder out early enough may mean life or death for an early hummer. The first dates are a great wake-up call, as in "Really, they've been sighted nearby - I need to get my feeder out" 2. People who are trying to attract hummers to their yards probably don't want to wait until the migration season is half over to put out their feeder. They want EVERY bird who comes by to discover it, remember it and return. The earlier your feeder goes out the more migrating birds that can use it - the more fun we have watching! I hope this doesn't sound like I'm criticizing your work. I understand your frustration, seeing that hummers are in your area but not seeing them. Maybe Lanny could put a disclaimer on his actual map page noting that hummers migrate individually and it may take months for migrating birds to pass through an area. Remember even his map doesn't neccessarily show the first hummers - just the ones humans spotted and reported. Thank you for your hard work - it's a great chart!

HELLO, I JUST SIGNED UP TO THIS WONDERFUL CITE AND HAD TO RESPOND TO YOUR BLOG ON THE HUMMINGBIRD. I SAW A HUMMINGBIRD IN MY BACKYARD TODAY, 10/23/07, HERE IN PALM BAY NE FOR THE FIRST TIME!! AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS A GREEN FINCH OR A GREEN DRAGONFLY, BUT IT WAS DEFINITELY A HUMMINGBIRD. MY HUSBAND SAW IT TOO. WE TOO HAVE BEEN LANDSCAPING TO ATTRACT BUTTERFLIES AND BIRDS, I SUSPECT HE WAS CHECKING OUT MY FIRECRACKER BUSHES. IT FIGURES, I JUST RECENTLY THREW OUT MY HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER AS IT WAS RATHER MOLDY. I HAVE BEEN IN THIS HOUSE FOR 9 1/2 YEARS AND IN FL FOR 20 AND HAVE NEVER SEEN A HUMMINGBIRD. IT WAS VERY EXCITING!! I DO RECALL WHEN I WAS A KID MY DAD (RECENTLY DECEASED) AND I SAW ONE UP IN MASSACHUSETTS WHERE I CAME FROM, BUT THAT WAS "MANY MOONS AGO". MY DAD WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE SEEN HIM TOO. I HAD GIVEN UP ON EVERY SEEING ONE AND THERE HE WAS. I COULDN'T GET A REAL GOOD LOOK AT HIM AS IT WAS BEGINNING TO GET DARK, BUT I AM HOPING THAT HE FINDS HIS BACK TOMORROW SO I CAN REALLY CHECK HIM OUT. UNFORTUNATELY, THIS YEAR FOR SOME REASON THE SPARROWS HAVE ALSO TAKEN OVER THE FEEDERS. I DON'T MIND, BUT THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN IN MY YARD BEFORE AND I'VE HAD FEEDERS FOR YEARS. THEY SEEM TO "GANG UP" ON THE DOVES, MOCKINGBIRDS, CARDINALS, AND TO SPITE THEIR SIZE, ARE A BIT ANNOYING TO THE OTHER BIRDS. I ALSO HAVE AN AS YET UNIDENTIFIED, SHY BIRD THAT IS A BEAUTIFUL SHINY REDDISH-YELLOW COLOR AND THE SIZE OF A MOCKINGBIRD? HE FAVORS THE "RED POWDER PUFF BUSH" AND HIDES IN IT AS WELL AS EATING BUGS THAT ARE ON IT.

river, roses don't have nectar, so they aren't feeding. What they are probably doing in the climber is stalking their feeding plants. We have a feeder near a climbing rose and one hummer just sits there and if he sees another hummer go to the feeder, he darts out and chases it away. Once after a rainstorm, I saw hummers visiting my roses. I realize they were drinking water that had collected on the leaves and in the flowers. It was pretty neat.