Congrats! Same for me as well; I never see mine until Mothers Day (NJ). Let's hope this is going to be a great hummer season for us all.

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.

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.

I had my first one on April 24th, the day it snowed and we had winds gusting to 40 mph! What a day to arrive in warm, sunny Ohio .... I've since see 2 males and a female, they love the buckeye trees. katbird, keep checking, I'm just up the road in Germantown.