Ruby-throated hummingbirds are back in the region for another season. This male takes a sip of nectar from the blooms of a potted plant.

I reported last week on a handful of people who saw the “early bird” ruby-throated hummingbirds making their return to local yards and gardens. Many more readers have contacted me this past week to share more hummingbird sightings.

For those who haven’t seen a hummingbird yet, just remain patient. They’re definitely arriving for another season with us. 

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Gina Kinney emailed me on behalf of her mom, Ginger Brackins, as she has done for several years, to share news of her mom’s hummingbird sighting.

“She said she saw her first hummingbird on Saturday, April 13, at around 5:30 p.m. in Erwin,” Ginger wrote.

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“I put my feeder out on April 1 and took it down this morning (April 14) to clean it and put new feed in it,” wrote Joan Chipokas in an email. “About 30 minutes later, a male hummer came to the feeder. Didn’t see him again today, but I was busy so really wasn’t watching. Hopefully I’ll start seeing him on a regular basis and the female will show up too.”

Joan wrote that she lives on Suncrest Village Lane in Gray.

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Kingsport resident Ray Chandler reported a sighting of a first spring hummingbird on April 14 . “They are regular visitors to the feeders now,” he shared in an email.

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Lonnie Hale reported a first of spring hummingbird sighting in an email to me.

“We saw our first hummingbird yesterday (April 14),” Lonnie wrote. “I put the feeders out in the morning, bought four hanging baskets of flowers and BAM.”

Lonnie lives near Big Stone Gap, Virginia. “Love these little guys,” Lonnie added.

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April Fain in Unicoi also saw her first ruby-throated hummingbird of the season on April 14. “We had our first hummingbird this morning,” April wrote in a Facebook message to me. “I saw him three times.”

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Amy Tipton sent me a message on Facebook to report that her parents had observed their first spring hummingbird.

“The hummingbirds are back in Unicoi County,” she wrote. “My parents, Edison and Emma Jean Wallin, spotted their first one of the season this evening (April 14) at 6:30 at the feeder on their front porch in Limestone Cove. Mama just put her feeder out today.”

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“My first hummer just came in,” Karen and Bobby Andis of Kingsport reported via Facebook Messenger on April 14. “A small female…very hungry.”

I got a followup message the following day. “A male showed this morning,” they wrote.

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Erwin resident Donna Barnes Kilday shared a post on my Facebook page to report the arrival of her first hummingbird. “Saw my first hummingbird today,” she wrote on April 15.

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Priscilla Gutierrez shared in a Facebook comment that she saw her first hummingbird of spring on April 16.

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“I’ve had my feeder out for 2 weeks,” Virginia Martin commented on a Facebook post. Virginia, who resides in East Carters Valley in Scott County, added that she saw her first ruby-throated hummingbird on April 13 at 3:15 p.m.

“I believe they are a couple of days behind schedule for my area, possibly weather-related since we’ve had a spell of cooler temperatures and a few very windy storms recently,” she added.

Virginia noted that she has fed hummers for years, and use only the homemade sugar water in a common inexpensive feeder.

“It’s located just outside my dining area window, so I have literally a ‘bird’s eye’ view,” she wrote. “There’s a dogwood tree close by, and other good perching places for them to monitor and protect their territory.”

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Jan Bostrom sent me an email to share her first spring hummingbird sighting. She wrote, “I saw my first hummingbird yesterday (April 17) around 6 p.m.” Jan wrote that she been on the lookout because her neighbor saw her first hummingbird on April 15.

“I’m thrilled to be retired and to have time to enjoy God’s beauty around me,” Jan shared.

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I’ve finally joined the ranks of those who have welcomed hummingbirds back for another season.

The hummingbirds returned to my own home on April 17 at 7:15 p.m. I heard the telltale buzz of the bird’s wings before I spotted him. I stayed still and he zipped to my feeders for a quick sip. He returned a few times before dusk. When I posted my success on Facebook, several other people commented to let me know that hummingbirds had returned at their homes on April 17.

The following day I enjoyed watching two male ruby-throated hummingbirds in a prickly standoff about control of the front porch feeders.

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Vivian C. Tester in Bristol, Tennessee, posted a comment on one of my Facebook posts to let me know of her first spring sighting.

“Just saw my first hummingbird of spring,” she wrote on April 17.

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Rosalie Sisson in Jackson, Tennessee, commented on my Facebook page that she saw her first hummingbird of the season at about 6 Central time on April 17.

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Lauri Sneyd Garland in Unicoi, also on April 17, noted in a comment on my Facebook page she has been seeing hummingbirds for the last couple of days.

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Tina Jefferson Reese in Bristol, Tennessee, reported via a comment on my Facebook page that she also saw her first hummingbird on April 17.

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Linda C. Robinette wrote, “Ours fluttered in around 11:30 this morning (April 17),” in a comment on my Facebook page.

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Kaylynn Sanford Wilster at Boone Lake saw her first spring hummingbird on April 18. “Saw my first one yesterday,” she wrote on April 19 in a Facebook comment on a post of mine.

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Spring migration is in full swing. At least six different species of warblers have returned to the woodlands around my home. A broad-winged hawk has also returned to a favorite field less than a quarter of a mile from my home. Keep your eyes open for new arrivals. Chimney swifts have been zipping over the rooftops of downtown Erwin since April 17.

To share a sighting, make a comment or ask a question, email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.