fall-like weather

We went from No Wild Turkeys to Wild Turkey Sanctuary thanks to the sudden appearance of a major flock of half-grown turkeylets accompanied be several adult hens, apparently a merger of three or four broods. Yesterday morning I saw what looked like a squabble between two of the teen-aged gobblers, eventually broken up by one of the mother hens. Most of the other birds were feeding under a neighbor's bird feeder, picking up and picking out the considerable amount of bird seed that had fallen from the feeder. They were back today, feeding in our 'meadow' (the open space in front of the house).

Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper and an Eastern Wood Pewee this morning provide some more evidence that birds are starting to move around in this fall-like weather. A Mallard hen with ten half-grown ducklings provides evidence that Mallards are not going extinct on Weesuck Creek. Another sign of fall: the Purple Martin colony is entirely abandoned and the martins dispersed -- getting ready for their migration no doubt.

The young hummingbirds are still hanging around the nest area. I saw the two fledglings in a merry chase -- they certainly fly amazingly well just a few days out of the nest! I also saw mama hummer feeding one of her offspring perched on a bare twig only a few feet off the ground and practically right in front of me. She was obviously wary of coming in so close to me and she hovered in the area for a long time (I always could hear her soft twitters before I saw her). I kept as still as I could and eventually she landed on the twig next to her baby, jabbing her long life-giving bill furiously down the young one's throat. After a certain point, the fledgling would not accept any more food in spite of her continued attempts at tapping on his bill, an obvious signal to open up. She flew to another branch and then back to her baby again; this time he/she took the additional nourishment and she took off, perhaps to search for her other baby.

As the young ones move around more and more, how does she keep track of where they are? I can hear her coming (and so do they, I'm sure). But I never hear anything from the young. Could they be making sounds to guide her in, sounds that I can't hear but that she can? 

Eric Salzman