[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is the time of year when some folks think about taking down their sugar-water feeders, wondering if perhaps the hummingbirds have left our area. Don’t you do it. Best advice is to leave the feeders up for two weeks after you see the last hummer at your place.
Hummingbirds are sticking around later and a few, especially the rufous variety, are over-wintering here. Rather than take the long trek to Mexico and points even farther south, many hummingbirds are choosing to spend the winter in south Texas along the coast.
In most years, a terrific place to see hummers each fall is the annual HummerBird Celebration in Rockport, a staging area for hummers headed south.
But not this year.
The HummerBird Celebration has been officially cancelled because of damage to the Rockport-Fulton area caused by Hurricane Harvey. Damage was heavy at the local high school, where the event is based.
According to Glenn Gomez, chairman of the celebration, “Our community has been hit with a category 4 hurricane, which in itself is a disaster, but the destruction and aftermath is the real tragedy. We will recover and HummerBird Celebration 2018 will be stronger than ever.”
