The latest reports from Journey North show that Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are just south of us!
They usually arrive here in Loudoun around April 15th so now is a good time to dig out your feeder, stock up on white granulated sugar, and start watching the migration maps.
The dots represent sightings by people like you and me who clicked over to the Journey North site and submitted their sighting. This information makes it not only fun for us as we follow their migration but also provides really valuable data on these birds.
Here is the map from yesterday: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/humm_ruby_spring2014.html.
Contributing your sightings is really quick and easy to do. So, while we await the hummingbirds’ return, why not get familiar with the journey north site, set up your account, even download their app! Then when you see a hummingbird (or later on, a Monarch), you can enter it and be a part of this great data collection effort!
Visit the hummingbird portion of the Journey North site here: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/humm/