The fledglings are just about full grown when they leave the nest. It is difficult to tell a feldgling from a female as the markings and color are very similar. A male doesn't get his full gorget until his first molting. Some will start in late summer when migration begins but most will start when they are on their wintering grounds.

Penny

Thanks penny. I'm thinking, the fact that the female and male aren't showing up at the same time and tolerating each other, maybe the male is her off spring. It does look like it's young and brightly colored.

By the end of summer the baby males usually have just a few red feathers of their gorget. Hard to see unless looking at the right angle.

bdriver71, I guess that solves that. I can plainly see the red from a distance. That explains the two of them way up in the tops of the tree, near where I suspect her nest to be, carrying on. It must have been the male going straight into the tree and back out, over and over again. Sounds like that other ritual that I had read on this site.