 
Here I am demonstrating one of the traps we use; --photo İMark H. Hunter for The Advocate
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I'm not at all sure why, but I suspect this answer lies in 'timing'. Many Baton Rouge visitors stated their first Ruby-throat was spotted earlier than usual this year, in late February. In checking some of the old Humnet reports from early spring, many observers throughout the southern states reported early Ruby-throats.
In our area, we can reliably see a male Ruby-throat by mid-March; females will show up a week or two later. Sometime in July the local breeding males start preparing to migrate by gradually replacing all their contour (body) feathers. Then they begin to put on fat for their southward journey.
A month before this Festival, I handled 117 hummingbirds at the Rogillio site, over half were adult males. None carried any fat and only a handful were beginning to replace their contour feathers. On Fest Day, we caught only two adult males. Is it possible that most of those males I handled in June departed prior to the Fest?
Additionally, trapping at the Butler site wasn't up to previous years, so perhaps this year's peak came a week or two earlier than past years. One thing about Mother nature though: Next year will be different!
Here is a list of presently scheduled events, banding and otherwise.
Many are open to the public. For more information, please feel free to contact me.
