I put in a 30'x8' B-fly garden at our new home this spring with plenty of attracting plants, hummer feeder (which attracted ants) and trees & bushes for shelter as recommended. I have butterflies galore but not a single hummer. I'll mention there are no other houses near us just undeveloped fields in SW FL. What am I doing wrong?
Where are the hummers?
You are not doing any thing wrong. It takes time for the hummers to discover your new garden? At this time their migration has begun. They're heading further South to Mexico for the cool months ahead. Congrats on the butterflies. ^_^
Oh good, there's still hope!! Thanks for the info, Ciao~
Have you any salvias in the garden? Honeysuckles vines blooms? Those are Hummers' magnets. Here is one 'Costra Rica Blue'. Red and Blue hues seem to be their best attraction. I hang my nectar feeders nearby those flowers, first they discover the flowers then the feeders are bonuses.
Above salvia at close up view:
I have a dozen large pots of Gloriosas and a Hummingbird Vine about to eat my a garage, there is no lack of hummers here.
March thru Oct, they will be leaving the northern areas heading south here very soon, and btw, look for them at dawn is the best time to see em, and bright lemon yellow draws them as well around the red and blue, they arent here too hvy in Hou areas but they will be very soon now
Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for the input. I do have red & blue salvias, red, white & bright yellow mandevillas, orange trumpet vine, yellow coreposis, pink & magenta pentas, passiflora, gardenias, mexican heather,(b-flies love them), lantanas, B-fly bush and several others I cant recall the names of. I went on the advice of a Master gardener here locally. It's good to hear they should be heading our way soon! I'll let you know when I spot the first one. Thanks again for the support! Ciao~
Put some vaseline on the feeder hook to deter the ants.
Yes, I have about 4-6 that frequent my yard and feeders. They seemed to be late arriving this year and not as many but are still here. I imagine they will be starting the migration soon but it has been hotter than normal for much longer than normal around here so they are still hanging out here in Middle TN. :-)
Mine love lantana, verbena, salvia, butterfly bush, and some of the flowering vines.
I'm ready for them! I used the vaseline on the hook. seems to do the job. Thanks for the advice. Will let you all know when I spot one!
glad the vaseline worked for you!
:)
I believe the 48 degreee night sent the rest of my hummers to the Gulf Coast..
They are still hanging out here in TN but last night dropped to about 48 so I'm thinking the migration from here will start soon. It has been so hot up this way that they've been very comfy thus far.
Temp. has dropped here too, Carole. This weekend I stopped sending out nectar feeders. But yesterday I spotted some passing through hummingbirds. So I promptly made some nectar, got to wait for them to cool down and rehung some. Thus far I didn't see one today. But still hoping to see some that will stop by here and refuel during their journey South.
I haven't seen much activity at the feeder today so far, maybe one. They may have decided that last night signaled time to pack up and move way south. :-)
I had lots of hummers but after this cool snap Mon I on have 1 who is frequenting the feeders. It's amazing how they know when to start south. I think it may be the shortening of the daylight. It is getting completely dark here now at 7:30. Is this weekend the fallback ? Gosh then it will be dark at 6:30
Yes, I think it is the amount of daylight that signals to them to get on the move. I have seen one, maybe two, here again today but not nearly as many as usual. Won't be long before they are all gone. Sniff, sniff. But I guess that gives us something to look forward to next year. :-)
Hey Cindy, that's a nice one of a male Ruby Throat hummer. It was a happy surprised when I was buzzed by this female by the feeder and salvias this morning. She went up the tree-top when I tried to take a pic. of her by the feeder. So I quietly retrieved so she can refuel for her long journey. Carole it's amazing for as small as they are, they will imbrace that long journey twice a year. And yes, Fall has arrived! Cindy I enjoy the milder temp. but like you, I'm not looking forward to those shorter-day length, and longer dreary darkness of night hours.
Cindy takes great photos, doesn't she? And I know what you mean about those longer hours of darkness. Cabin fever sets in for me after awhile.
Those hummers and their long, long trips ARE so amazing!
Lily_love, When I make my nectar, I dissolve the sugar in a small amount of hot water, then add cold water to the full amount I want to make. That way I don't have to wait on the water to cool like I use to.
I don't have as many hummers as I use to. Has been around 50 at night. The 10-Day forecast shows some 43 degree nights coming up, so I'm not expecting the ones left to be around too much longer. I will set out Saturday morning and see how many are around. There use to be 30 or more flying back and forth, buzzing and diving all around. Saw a couple when I was walking around looking at my plants tonight. ~sigh~ I'm not ready for winter. I hate being cold ..... makes me hurt!
Makes me hurt too Crit. I am never ready for cold but this year I am definitely ready for Fall.
Cold just isn't my cup of tea. Though, that reminds me to drink more tea during the winter. ^_^
Crit, thanks for the tip on making nectar. How nice to have 30 to 50 hummingbirds visiting at a time. The most I've seen on/around the feeder were 6-7 of them. Your location must be right on the map where they migrate. Today I think I spotted a total of 3 hummers.
The autumn air is so nice here Cindy. I begun to bring out my sweaters to keep them at hand already. lol.
OK, here you go to get into the winter frame of mind. My back yard just this past Feb. Brrrrr. Hard to believe that was just seven months ago. Where does the time go? I think I like the hummingbird pictures better. LOL!
Gardener ..... my feet got cold just LOOKING at that picture! LOL
Lily.... this is pic of 'one' of my feeders with 8 around it that you can see. There were a couple more on the back side.
I had 2 feeders up, and they kept fighting over them, so I bought 2 more. Still had them fighting over them so went back to the store. They didn't have any more like I had, so I bought a 'wine bottle' feeder. It's neat and different, so that gave me 5. STILL fighting over them!!!! Was at the store again and they had MORE like my others, so I bought 4 more. FINALLY, with 9 feeders up, the bullies had their feeders and the more friendly ones 'shared' the others, like nice little hummers. LOL
What a delightful sight to see with that many hummingzingers! With many nectar feeders around, I can immagine you're kept busy in caring for those little jewels! Happy for you, and thank you for sharing the joy Crit.
Mine are now all gone and the feeder is no longer being visited or fought over ... they are on the way south ... the migration from here is on. See them next year. :-(...
Those pictures are all amazing. I can't imagine 30 hummers! I'd be thrilled to see 1 or 2! Well hopefully they are on their way down to visit me! I've been sneaking out around 7am the last week to try to see one. The salvias are blooming
as are lots more for them. Red Mandevillas to get their attention. I have the feeder filled with fresh nectar, binoculars handy so I won't scare them. Fingers are crossed....All but a neon sign flashing 'EAT HERE' !!
sicula ....... ha ha on the flashing sign!
I love her sense of humor as well. I haven't seen any humminzingers around these past few days either. Just some residential birds; here is a Redheaded Woodpecker. ^_^
These stay here year round. It's much fun to watch these birds bring their youngs to the grain feeder in my backyard in the spring. Right now, they just busy collect seeds and grains to store for the winter coming. Quite industrius birds. They not only can defend their teritories, but will drive crows and others such as squirrels away from their nest as well.
Nice pic. Thanks for sharing.
I have those residential critters too. They are pretty neat. I saw 3 bluebirds in my birdbath a couple of days ago. They are so pretty. They remind me of a blue robin. lol I hope they stick around, or come back and make this their home. I keep bird seed, suet, sunflower seed and thistle out in feeders year round. They really flock to them in the winter. I love watching the birds too.
I have woodpecks here ... luv them! And the bluebirds. The birds do tend to eat us out of house and home during the winter ... but I love watching. :-)
It's fun. Sorry I've lead us OT one this post. My sincere apology. Happy gardening and birding.
Well, the hummers eventually leave but other birds take their place. ;-)
Carole, I saw a hummingbirds passing through today. It's nice being buzzed by those tiny travelers at this time of year.
I still have a couple birds feeding here and at the camp but I normally have around thirty. I will keep feeders up for at least another month.
Sicula If you want to attract the birds to your area you can make your nectar stronger at 3 to 1. They need the extra nutrients this time of the year. If fattens them quicker for their journey. I have read this in several books. They also say to add a lot of red to your back yard to get their attention. You can do this by adding some red artificial flowers to your beds or containers. You can put out some red fabric to catch their eye. Hummers have a very good memory. If they start coming to you on their route back they will return if you feed them. All you need is a little extra to draw them to you. They also eat insects so don't spray your bugs if you can live with them. This will also attract other birds to you. I have learned bugs equal birds. I am not real happy when they strip my brugs of leaves but I know a bird will fly into my yard to eat it.
This guy was doing a fast fly by.
AMAZING how you caught that little guy in fly-by. You are FAST!
I only saw 1 *at a time anyway* hummer yesterday. Still have a few sulphers, admirals and comma, plus skippers flitting around. Down to 40 degrees here last night.
Great photo! We had our first light frost last night. Sigh!