i just can't believe it, was doing a frost check, saw one fly into an oak. was watching it and another flew up near the other one. i saw the second one's back pretty well i thought, looked dark brown to me. i am stunned! had to get the feeder up, saw one of them still, haven't seen them come to the feeder yet although i still do have lots of flowers that they like in places.
two hummers
arlene,
If it has a brown back, then it is probably one or two species, Rufous or Allen. Either one could spend the winter with you. My last hummer left on Nov. 11. Hope one or both stay for the winter.
This message was edited Monday, Nov 25th 9:14 AM
thanks hummer, that would be a dream come true. i haven't seen them at the feeder yet, but they may have been there. i wish i had a zoom camera. was just out, saw one again. i have hundreds of frosted brug blooms, and a few brug blooms that are okay, and quite a few other blooming plants that didn't frost. they seemed small, could be my imagination, but they seemed smaller than my RTs.
When you only have one or two around they always seem smaller. The two species I mentioned, if feeding at a feeder, will only feed 1 or 2 times an hr. The best time to see if they are going to a feeder will be the 1st 30 min in the morning or the last 30 minutes before dark. If one of them stays with you and you do not mind, I have a hummer bander that would like to try an catch and band it. He would let you hold it in your hand before releasing it. Catching and banding it would not make it leave and causes no harm. Keep me posted.
Larry
Larry, one of them found the feeder outside my window, nice long feed! it is reddish brown and didn't look so small, lol. i wonder if the other is really smaller. i can't even express what a happy day this is for me, seems like one of God's special blessings to me. if they keep hanging out i'll let you know. i'm 12 miles west of gainesville, kanapaha and all that, do yoou know if they have banders? just in case i am lucky.
arlene,
There are no banders in FL. I just talked to one here in Montgomery. Usually he only goes as far south as Tallahassee, but he said he was going to make a banding trip thru central FL from Jan 11-16. The one bird you described is probably an adult male rufous. What color is on its throat? If either one is still there when he makes his trip in Jan, which is highly likely, he would like to try an band it.
i am bless too, cause the hummers here in the high desert of So. Calif. are year round residents. here's what we have here, and it is a pair ... http://www.portalproductions.com/h/annas.htm
Hpw exciting! I hope they stay Arlene, but then who wouldn't want to stay at your place!
Stacey, i read your post, and smiled, looked out the window and the little thing was landing on the feeder. i swear. smiling some more. it's strange to see brownish ones. you were up and busy early!!!
MVR, it's neat that you have them all year. this is the first time i've seen this kind, i think a rufous. i hope they stay the winter.
I was up at 4 this morning...really bad headache yesterday so I spent til well after noon in bed. Guess I'm all rested up for Thursday and that's a good thing!!
Arlene, Rufous are lovely too. my friend in Oklahoma has 6 feeders on the eaves of the roof along the patio. there were about 15 hummers on each feeder. they are a site to see. unfortunately, hummers only stay in OK during the summer months.
i am surprised the 1st time i hanged a hummer feeder 2 yrs. ago to see them hang around all year round. i see them feeding even when there is snow around here.
i hope the hummer u've got will also stay year round for U :)!
thanks MVR. he's sitting there again. two days. i should say she, she has a white chest. only one at a time at the feeders, i'm not sure if there are still 2 here or just one. i think maybe all my brugs attracted them to start. i don't know anyone in the area who has ever had a winter hummer before.
around here the hummers fight, i'm not sure i've ever seen 2 on the same feeder at the same time.
Arlene, they do take their turns in feeding. but if the male comes around, i find him to be too macho and chase the female away. they funny to watch :). i find they love salvias a lot and buddleia. although i did see them in the brug flowers once in a while. they buzz around me ears specially when i am watering the plants. sometimes they are well behaved, they whistle to let me know they are up in a branch of the tree. they are very playful, once u get acquainted with them.
there is at least one hummer still here. i thought our freeze last night might move her farther south. she looks golden in the sunlight.
HN, got the binoculars out. the hummer has a thin black band around his neck, like RT immatures would have, i guess it is immature, whatever the kind. do you think it will come back next winter? this is day 6, and i've only seen one at a time since first day. don't know if there is 1 or 2 still here.
arlene,
Glad to know you still have a hummer. It will probably stay the winter with you now. Will it come back next yr? If it survives until next yr it is a good chance that it will return to the same general area where it is now. Could be your yard or one within several miles from you. Wish I had one to look at now, sure would make me feel better as I have had something like the flu for over a week now, feel better today.
arlene,
Just went outside and guess what I saw, a hummer. Made my day, put a smile on my face.
HN, great news!! i think i know how you feel...
Thought I saw one the other day, but could not find it anymore when it zipped by. My dd is the one who saw it, and we decided it may have been a brug pollinating moth. The feeders have not been touched and I have changed the liquid in them.
This message was edited Friday, Dec 13th 10:38 PM
Arlene is your hummer still with you? What a gret feeling that must be.
See, Larry? I KNEW I should paint the roof red!
Roz, I know people who do. lol.
Arlene if he's still coming to visit and you don't mind, depending on the times he's coming, I would love to stop by on my way home on Sat from work. I stopped by normas a few weeks ago on the way home. Still haven't made it to Robins yet!! Let me know or give me a call at work!
katrina
katrina, you won't believe robin's greenhouse. 40 X 48 filled with stuff i can't pronounce. i'll drop you mail or call in a while. do you get off early? it seems to go to bed before dark.
Larry, my daughter has a web cam. i am computer challended, but i could hook it up to watch the hummer feeder couldn't i?
i had so many flowers in bloom when the hummer showed up, mostly frosted now except roses and a few salvias, plus what is on the deck. i'm thinking about that web cam for the hummer serious. i could put the feeder on/near the window by my computer.
I get off Saturday at 2, give me a call if we can't figure something out for this Saturday maybe next! I really want to go see Robins greenhouse soon I should give her a call!!! I might just do that today..
Katrina
arlene, do not move your current feeder. Most wintering hummers do not like things changed, could make it leave.
If you want to move it, you must do so in stages. By this I mean move it now more than a few feet at a time and allow
several days for hummer to ajust. Better yet, put up another feeder where you want it and see it the hummer comes to it, if it does it would probably be ok to take down the current feeder without bothering the hummer, or leave empty feeder up at old place for a few days allowing hummer to rely on new feeder.
Maybe ,since this is the first year I have had hummers, they will come back at this time next year. Sure wish they would. Guess they need to get used to this place. Frannie, do you have any now? Have you seen the little hurt one anymore, or would you recognize it?
hummers are still feeding strongly as ever, even though the temperature has gone cooler. still as playful as usual.
That is great, Ma Vie. Don't you just love to watch them? I sure do miss my little hummer visitors.
Roz, not only do i love to watch them, they play with me. whenever i am watering the plants,[my hair is long], almost to my waistline, the would pick a few strand and place the strand in my face :). sometimes, they would land on my shoulder too. the hummers here are very friendly. sometimes when they come before i go outside, they would be whislings to let me know they are around.
All mine do is fight, fight, fight. Maybe next spring when it is mating season they will get along better; well, probably not the males and females still think it is more important to eat and they fight around the feeders. I think I will get some more this year.
maybe, i've had them too long, 4 yrs. now, they are all accustomed to me :). my concern now is... we are moving soon. i hope i find them in the area where i will move.
Roz, i've seen nasty old boys knock girls right off feeders! i think i had 2 hummers at the same feeder one time. yours should come back. i think i can tell when they do, as they go to where a feeder used to be and fly still, looking and looking for that feeder. Ma Vie, you will have hummers, they will find you. mine aren't that friendly with me, although they will sometimes buzz me and could care less if i am 3 feet from a feeder they want to drink from. if i have a feeder go dry, one will come up to my window and do that still flight thing and cheep at me..... knowing they have a good chance of getting the feeder filled up real soon if they do that.
i didn't really start gardening until i found out hummers were hanging out around here anyway.
Katrina.... if you have time next saturday let me know. either these germs or i will be gone by then, it's a death match now, i've had enough!
Arlene,
Sounds like you have what I have. Been 3 weeks now. Today is the 1st day I have felt half way decent and the 1st night I have gotten more than 3 hrs sleep. I felt the same way, one of us was going to make it, I wondered at times if it would be me or the bug. Think I'm winning, have my fingers crossed. We caught the hummer in my yard yesterday. Strange, but it is the same hummer that the person doing the banding had banded this hummer in his yard earlier. We live about 1/2 mile apart. He called after getting back home and said the hummer was back at his house. The hummer then returned and spent most of the afternoon back at my house though. It is a hatching yr male ruby. Lots of wintering hummers are being reported in the southeast this yr. I have gotten new wintering hummers as late as Christmas, so keep your feeders out.
so Larry, does he get banded again?
No, he keeps his old band. Just records updated. The reason to band birds anyway is to track their migration process.
Larry, i have often thought hummers make the round during the day. as fast as they fly and as far as they can see, i'm not surprised to hear they would be sharing yards. i've been telling people as i see them that feed hummers about mine, and encouraging them to put up clean feeders, although i sure hope mine finds his way back every day! i am still wondering if there are 2 and they are doing a winter survival thing where they share. i still have a few sages, flowering maples, blooming and some roses. i figured i shouldn't move that feeder. i wait til the hummer flies away and then fetch it to change sugar water so he doesn't come back and find it gone.
yes, these are bad bad germs. i don't think i ever had a deeper cough.
You two sick folks take care and don't get too chilled. Sounds like a bad flu, but the good news is that you have had it and are immune to getting it again, so you are over the sick flu for this year.
Arlene, do you still have your hummers?
Roz, I do. there is one sitting at the feeder right now. Hopefully Larry is right, it's gonna stay the winter. i forgot to tell you i am sure that i received your seeds, and mailed you postage on monday. i know i'm gonna love the plants they make.