September 10, 2025

A juvenile male Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) sipping nectar from Scarlet Beebalm (Monarda didyma), with rich emerald green Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum) in the background.

During the second week of August, the last of the hummingbird nestlings fledged. Since that time I’ve been putting out two quarts of hummingbird syrup daily without fail. That won’t happen today. Not even one quart has been consumed. That’s the signal. My clowns of summer have packed their tiny suitcases and are now on their way to their wintering grounds, southern Mexico, across Central America and Panama.

They’re gone, but there will be many others migrating through. I’ll keep watch as they come to my feeder until I don’t see any stragglers coming through. Two weeks and I don’t see any more and the feeder will be put away till next spring.

I’ll be so delighted to see them again.

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