Here in Union Springs I've had my feeder outside my kitchen window for 3 wks.. Finally saw a female hummer, just once each day, on the 20th & 27th. In the past they have /always/ come when my columbines begin blooming & they opened nearly 3 wks. ago. I've not seen the female go near the columbines that are all along the back of the house.
Another noticeable lack ... _/normally/_ we have _/many/_ tree & barn swallows, esp. when the campus lawns are being mowed & normally I'll have at least 3 boxes of tree swallows & 2 of blue birds, (with house sparrows plaguing them.) Thus far we have only one box with tree swallows & the female just laid her 5th egg 3 days ago. This is late. Same with the one box with bluebirds. No wrens yet but we're seeing 5-7 chimney swifts still using the tall chimney on the girls' dorm. /House sparrows have now lost about 20 eggs from 3 boxes to this human predator. / I fear squirrels may be getting some adult birds, eggs & nestlings in the trees & hedgerows. What IS quite noticeable here, is the lack of insects, esp. with ideal wet weather for mosquitoes & black flies. We had a few of both a couple wks. ago along with midges but now, next to nothing & it's still wet. The fields are planted to grass, not corn this yr. so I feel that is more conducive habitat for insects. Alas, the insecticides have probably killed off the bugs so desperately needed by our feathered friends. Where is Rachel Carson?? Who will take up the battle??? Fritzie On 5/28/2017 10:46 AM, Marty Schlabach wrote: > > We’ve had our hummingbird feeders up for several weeks, changed them a > couple of times and have as of yet only seen a hummer twice, both > times a female. > > Marty > > Interlaken, NY > > *From:* **Ellen Haith > *Sent:* Sunday, May 28, 2017 8:22 AM > *To:* Kelly Lee Smith <kl...@cornell.edu> > *Cc:* CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> > *Subject:* Re: [cayugabirds-l] Ominous > > 8:15 a.m Sunday, just checking all the ominous notes and explaining > the reality to my husband, and TWO males arrived at the one visible > feeder and the battle for the goodies took but a moment! > > May I say 'Whoopee!' and 'Whew?' > > e.h. > > On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 8:13 AM, Kelly Lee Smith <kl...@cornell.edu > <mailto:kl...@cornell.edu>> wrote: > > I saw my first hummingbird yesterday at an Amish greenhouse in > SummerHill; the Amish ladies said the birds have been in the > greenhouses for a couple of weeks. > > Kelly > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > *From:*Ellen Haith <elliehait...@gmail.com > <mailto:elliehait...@gmail.com>> > *Sent:* Saturday, May 27, 2017 3:44 PM > *To:* CAYUGABIRDS-L; CAYUGABIRDS-L > *Subject:* [cayugabirds-l] Ominous > > Along the west shore of Cayuga Lake we occasionally have up to > three Hummingbirds at a time at either feeder. So far this spring > (?) - we have seen ONE female sitting on the edge of a feeder > looking away from the cottage - none other. Might this be a result > of the late and frequent cold snaps and the subsequent lack of > either floral food or human assistance? > > Info and/or assurance gratefully accepted. > > Ellen > > -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
