STEVE'S SIGHTINGS:

Ruby-throated hummingbirds are already starting to show up in the Rio Grande Valley.
I saw my first ruby-throated of the year last week at John Bax’s feeder in Port Isabel.
I had asked John to give me a call if he saw one and a few hours later, the phone rang. It wasn’t long before I made it to Port Isabel.
As expected, that first hummer was a beautiful male, which are the first to come through.
Male and female ruby-throated hummingbirds do not migrate at the same time and females should start showing up later, accompanied by first-year juveniles.
Summer is typically a slow time for seeing and photographing birds, so the arrival of ruby-throated hummingbirds adds a breath of fresh air to a hot, humid and generally miserable time of the year.
Ruby-throateds generally prefer red- and orange-colored flowers. One of their favorites is turk’s cap, which is a common garden and wildflower found in the Rio Grande Valley.
If you prefer to use feeders to attract hummingbirds, here are a few suggestions from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Web site.
Sugar-water mixtures should have about one-quarter cup of sugar per cup of water.
Food coloring is unnecessary; table sugar is the best choice.
Change the water before it grows cloudy or discolored and remember that during hot weather, sugar water ferments rapidly to produce toxic alcohol.
Be careful about where you put your hummingbird feeders, as some cats have learned to lie in wait to catch visiting hummingbirds.
Besides those tips from Cornell, I have one additional suggestion.
Don’t take down the feeder just because the ruby-throated migration ends, because there’s a chance you could get buff-bellied hummingbirds or even black-chinned hummers, which are also found in the Valley.
The peak hummingbird migration is around the middle of September but hummers have been know to remain in the Valley much longer on their southbound journey to wintering grounds.
And, finally, if you get a good photo of a ruby-throated hummingbird this fall, send it to me at steves@valleystar.com. Let me know if it's OK to share it with readers.