A Year Like No Other

       This is one of about seven female Rubythroat hummingbirds that are showing up daily to our garden.  This one in particular shows up every 20 minutes.  She's nesting within about 1/8 mile of our place.
       This has been an extraordinary year, both good and bad, that has produced unusual results compared to the last 20 years.  We had a dominant male show up on time and take care of business with all of the females in the first 10 days.  But things changed quickly.  For three weeks we had no males looking over our yard.  I believe something did happen to our male, so the only ones that show up are males from surrounding territories that will appear around 10:00 PM, stay the night, and be gone before 7:00 AM the next morning.  I want to make a point that confirms just how importance and dedicated they are to what their purpose is.  The male hummingbirds love their food, but nothing we do in our garden can pull a male from another territory, until his duty is fulfilled.  They protect what's theirs, and after all activity is diminished in their own territory, it's only then that they'll make the trip to our place to enjoy the luxuries unavailable in their own. 
       Not having an adult male constantly sitting around you and making himself known every minute of every day, sure makes you miss them in the good years we had.  However, we're not missing out on hummingbird activity.  The male that shows up late uses the fountain and all the feeders and flowers in excess while he's here.  What surprises me is that 3 or 4 sneaker males each year during nesting season, have all disappeared. However, it seems the female population is about the same. It's not a huge concern because hummingbirds are polygamous.  They don't pair up like most other birds.  One male can easily do the job with countless females.  Oh boy, that's Gotta be tiring! During the day we get females showing up, and especially the one nesting nearby, that gives us entertainment frequently.  The females aren't afraid to show up and feed at will, knowing no little missile will be scorching out of the trees to chase them around.  They take their time without looking over their shoulders constantly.  The one female in particular LOVES the flowers with a few pokes at the feeders, and this gives me the opportunity for photos.  The others still feed heavily at feeders most of the time and get back to their nest as quickly as they can because their nests are ½ mile to 2 miles away, but the one has given me rare opportunities to catch an adult female in the flowers.  She doesn't have to be in quite as big of hurry, because she's only about 15 seconds away from her nest.
       I fully anticipate the males that are protecting surrounding territories to show up late July along with the migrant population we've built up over the years.  But with no males dominating the yard, I expect many photos of the young birds in late July, as they won't be chased around or knocked off their flowers just at the time I'm about to snap the photos. 
       It's a different year, but things are so good around the garden.  So far we haven't had too much moisture, smoke isn't filling the skies, and mosquitoes aren't driving us crazy, yet.  The temperatures have been much cooler than normal for the past six weeks, with only a few days above average.  We had horrible winds for two weeks from the northwest, right at the time of the northern migration.  I believe this delayed many birds, and halted others hundreds of miles southeast of us.  Many birds showed up late, but they still showed up.  It's a year with so many unexpected events, but life goes on with the birds.  They've got a purpose, and nothing will stop them from fulfilling it.