We surprisingly still have 3-5 hummingbirds (all females) a day competing for nectar.  Even with this continuous rain from Joaquin, they swoop and dart to and from feeders and flowers.  One day the rain gauge percher sat on the gauge with her head toward the sky, fluttering her wings, and just enjoying the drops of rain falling on her feathers.  We've noticed the little birds have bulked up on insects preparing for their impending departure south.  This is the first year I've seen three window collisions and heard multiple screen bumps.  Every 3-4 months I remove the old window alert decals and replace them with new decals as the old ones lose their effectiveness.  The decals do work so I couldn't figure why I kept finding a hummingbird on the porch floor.  I even climbed back up the ladder and added a few more decals to the large windows.

The decals contain a component which brilliantly reflects ultraviolet sunlight that glows helping the  birds see windows and avoid striking the glass.  Otherwise, the glass reflects the sky and at high speed birds fly into the "faux sky.".  After about 10 minutes of resting on the porch floor, the hummingbirds quickly zip away and perch on a branch, probably to fully recover from their trauma in a safer place..  The screen seems to work as a trampoline and the birds are able to fly away.  The other day while at the kitchen sink, I happened to be looking out the window and watched one female body slam another female knocking her into the screen.  She landed belly to the screen with beak and little feet embedded in the mesh. I grabbed my iphone to take her picture but she made a quick get-away.  Another time Cliff and I were doing some yard work and cleaning up old logs when we took a break in our garden chairs.  Beside my chair is my large white wash tub for cleaning freshly picked garden vegetables.  Two females flew inches in front of me and one body slammed the other into the side of the plastic washtub so hard we heard the thud.  These are roller derby girls!!

I went to the casino opening with a friend on Monday, but the traffic was so backed up, we were turned away.  Motorists blocked both lanes instead of staying in the one leading to the casino.  We barely moved in the hour we spent trying to get to the casino.  Cliff and I went the next afternoon after the opening hype was over.  Right now the only food available is in their food court which is just "junk" food but it will keep the gamblers in the casino spending their $$$$.  Their hotel is up and running and plans for the convention center may begin next year.