Ruby-throated Hummingbird

NOTE: Now that I am busy with school again, I will probably be posting to this blog only on weekends. It's been a great summer. Hope you enjoyed my summer blog about birds - pass it on to friends if you enjoyed it - let me know what's good about it and what's not good, so I may improve.

Ruby-throats are the only hummingbirds in this part of the country, and last summer I caught a glimpse of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird flitting in and out of our petunias now and then, so this summer I put up a hummingbird feeder with the hopes of attracting them to be a regular visitor to the house. I really didn't see the level of the hummingbird nectar in the feeder going down much during June and July, so I figured that the summer heat spoiled the nectar and the hummingbirds were not interested. A month ago I cleaned out the feeder and put in a fresh supply of nectar , but only a small amount so that it would not be in the feeder very long. Sure enough, within the day a pair of Ruby-throats became regular visitors - several times a day, and now I replace the nectar each week as it gets depleted. Now that they are visiting frequently, my goal is to get a good photograph, before they take off for their winter homes in the Tropics.

Below are photos I took of Ruby-throats when we spent a Memorial weekend in a cabin in Upper Michigan near Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior back in 2007.

A male Ruby-throated Hummingbird on the back deck of a cabin in the north woods of Upper Michigan near Lake Superior; 5/27/07.

The angle of light creates the glow of the "ruby" throat; 5/27/07.

A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird lacks the "ruby" throat of its male counterpart; Upper Michigan, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore; 5/27/07.