Counting the Days

Deb;,,

They should get along ok....... The only things I've seen the hummers chase are the big ol bees and butterflies away from the flowers.... I've have yet to see a hummer out here go after another bird, unless it's another hummer.....That goes on all day long....

Heres a picture of Jake after I just got done smacking him on his tail feathers with the fly swatter for being mean to the other hummers...... He sure doesn't like that fly swatter and he lets me know it.... Wish I could understand what he's saying... haa! haaa! He can be a real trouble maker sometimes but I still love him!!! I swear he's part human....

..Dave

LOL! Your little hummer Jake sounds like quite the character! I could read your stories all day! Too precious, Dave!

Someone needs to tell their hummers to send some of their relatives or buddies to my house! I've never seen a hummer in real life. And I have heard that we get them most of the year here. I've got tons of nectar flowers for them and have even had feeders out to no avail. Someday ......

Cordeledawg;,

Yes; a Brown thrasher..... It's really relaxing sitting out here in the late afternoons durning the summer and listening to them sing..... Their songs seem to echo through the woods.... Every once in awhile they show themselves out in the yard but tend to stay in the woods most of the time.....Their one of the more shy species I have around here.....


....Dave

Becky;,,,

Heck no I'm not a professional!! Just a rookie....... With all the birds and wildlife out here, I just wanted to try and get some pictures.....It's turned out to be just a fun hobby......


....Dave

Becky;,,,

I 'll have a talk with a few of mine this summer..... I'll tell em the pickens are really good over at Becky's house and give em directions on how to get there on their way back south this comming fall..haa!!!


....Dave

Another one of the ol boy scolding me after I squirted him with the water hose for picken on the other hummers.....

Great pics Dave!

His expression says it all, Dave!

Really cute that Jake!! Super pics!
Thanks for replying Dave.. I was a little concerned for hummers since Warbler thinks she owns the hummie water... She chases the Kinglet off when he gets too close to it.. even tho' Kinglet doesnt drink the hum watter, lol. Guess I will put up more feeders back there.. Like those little rubber cork bottles.

Kinglet is about the same length as my Ruby-throat hummers, just a little broader..

Dave, I had a pair of brown thrashers living in the bushes behind my lanai, and they raised a family there. They left here in the fall. Do you know if they return to the same place, I miss them.

Dave great photos, especially the montage of birds and butterflies. Lots of hummingbirds come to my feeders. Have three Rufous (fiesty little fellows, think they are the boss, but beautiful), Black Chinned, and Caliope, the tiniest. I put the feeders out around April 1, depending on the weather there are some here usually by April 10. I have read that you multiply by 5 however many you see at your feeders, by that way of counting there are sometimes 100 or more in and around my 2 1/2 acres of garden.

I hang 7 or 8 feeders around the house and shade house. that way one Rufous cannot control all of them. The Orioles love the hummer feeders as well as their own feeder!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DonnaS

Deb;,

I don't think that warbler has a chance against your hummers.........Thats funny........ I can just picture that warbler trying to keep a hummer away from it's feeder....That should be fun to watch...

Those kinglet's are little cuties with that white ring around their eyes.....I like the way they just hop along a limb looking for critters...

Let me know how the test tube feeders work out....I've never tried them....


....Dave

Karen;,

I'm not sure if they return to the same place or not..... Hey, they just might!!....I have them every year here..... I guess we'll know in a couple months huh!!!......

I'm sitting here looking out the window at all the cardinals on the feeders..... Snowing like crazy here....I guess I'd better go out and fill the feeders before it gets dark.....

Thanks Donna;,

Glad you enjoy them.....

We only have the Ruby Throats here....At least thats all I've ever seen here in the yard.....

I've never heard that about "multiply by 5" before,,,,, Maybe I don't have enough feeders up.... I have plenty of places to put them.... Maybe I'll get a couple more and see what happens.... Thanks for that bit of info...

Eight feeders huh!.... sheeesh,,,, that must be a full time job filling those...... your back yard sounds like what I have going on around here...... Never a dull moment in Hummersville!!!....lol


...Dave

I thought it was multiply by 4.

Drat! Does that mean 0 X 4 is still 0???? =;-O

Becky, do you have any idea why there aren't hummers there?

I normaly don't waste to much time taking pictures of the little ones at the feeders but ran accross a couple while looking for some other ones so I thought I'd go ahead and post them....

Comming in for a landing, to get a fillup of the good stuff...

Very nice pics Dave!

I don't think the x 4 would apply to overwintering hummers in Fla. but I could be wrong.

I think Beckys plants just need to mature and grow nice and tall.

Dave, Amazing shots, I think they are some of the best I've seen lately!!! Enjoyed them all!! The collage is really nice too, How did you do the background on the collage, Did you put one original and then add the others with some of there background with them?? Love the photo thats 3 photo's up ( with the yellow flowers to the right) Looks like the hummer is dancing in that one! besides the feeders, What flowers do you notice are there favorites? Around how many do you get around when they start coming in? What a treat it must be when you have them around and are able to get such nice shots of them!!

IRIS;,

The flowers in that picture your refering to are called Alstroemeria, or more commonly knowen as, Peruvian Liliy..... I grow a few different varieties here...... I named that hummer, "Twinkle Toes" because of the way sits on the flowers to try and ballance itself.....

They seem to like the butterfly bushes the best Iris...... Their back & forth between those and the Alstroemeris.. Also I see them on the Clematis alot..... I have alot of other flowers they go to but those are the main ones..... They like "Rose of Sharon" also, along with Tropical Hibiscus, and the Morning Glories..Those little boogers have it made around here....

I'm not sure how many I get out here in the summer...... To many to count..... It's non stop action from sunup to sunset, I can tell you that.....

....Dave

Beautiful shots of the hummie Dave!

Guess who is drinking from the hummer nectar now??

Yep, It's Kinglet!!

Dave, Thanks so much for all the info!!! "Twinkle Toes"

Deb;,,

Thats fantastic..... Good job getting the shot also.......

That just goes to show you, other birds besides the hummers like KoolAid also!!!... haa! ha!!!


....Dave

Your very welcome IRIS;,,,,

Heres another picture of Twinkle Toes I found....... I could always tell if it was Twinkie because the little showoff always looked like it was dancing on the flowers when it was on them....

...Dave

Dave, Of all the beautifull pics of hummers I've ever seen, I'd have to say the one you just posted is my uttermost favorite!! It's like a "Two for One" That was caught just perfectly!! Thanks so much for posting this esquisit picture of Double T!

WOW!!, I pulled up this thread to get an idea of when to expect hummers in my zone 7b location, and to get my feeders out, and got more than I barganed for.UncleGreen thumb and his stories of his hummers, and pics, make me lonesome for mine.I don't know if the same males return each year or not, but I sure hope that my little "dirty birdie" comes back, because he sure spoiled me.First of all, he loves my red national guard "retirement" hat, and flies right into the little minuet man emblem on the front, and loves it when I put the fogger on the hose, and sprinkle the cuttings in the bed.The little rascal gets in the mist and rotates to get a shower, I have begged my DW to get a pic of it, and she fiddles around too long getting the camera, and comes out when I'm finished, asking where he is, and I reply "half way to brazil by now", she should never pick a camera, and I never have it, when I need it either, but I DO keep the batteries in mine.(You know about the opposites and attraction etc..)..Since I found a south of me neighbor I hope I can get Deborah to let me know when the hummers get to her place, and I'll be much quicker than DW with the camera, getting the feeders out. Mike

Mike, I'll hollar when the hummers come to Cordele. You can be on the look out for the comicazees in early April I'm sure.

Dave your pictures are great. Loved seeing them.

Mike are you the same fella I met on another hummer forum?

The new migration map for 2007 has been posted. This means a Ruby could be sighted along the gulf coast at any time now. Last year the first reported sighting was Feb. the 25. My first visitor was on March 13. Mine have been showing up during the first two weeks of March.

I am looking for several resident birds this year. They do return to the same nesting area each year. I had 8 stay with me all season last year. At one point of the summer I was going through 3 gallons of sugar water a week. I know this isn't much compared to what others use but it is the most I have ever for me.

Hello, Mimidi, no, I have never met you, though it is good to hear from you.WOW!! 3 gal of sugar water a week(?), I think mine go through more like 3qts. a week, and thats perty good, considering I have only been trying to attract rubys for five years now, and grow as much of what like as posible.Red buckeye is comming along fairly well, and they love it, however, they are more attracted to the taller plants, but they will get there..Happy watching, Mike

I have only been at this for 5 years too. I tried Red buckeye but it doesn't like the climate I provide. I have learned not to bother with a plant if it can't take the intense heat and humidity we have in the southeast. I have gotten to the point most of my flowers are perennials. The only exceptions are cleome for the hummingbirds and pentas and zinnias for the butterflies. Never did like zinnias until I had some one year an the butterflies couldn't stay away from them.

The reason I asked about your being a member of another forum is because there is a Mike there who lives in northwest Georgia.

I have 19 days before I could possibly see my first Ruby of the season. I am just waiting for those dots to show up on the migration map. I keep feeders all year round just incase I should get one that is overwintering to drop by so I alread have two ready for an earlybird this year. Might even have to tie a red ribbon around the column on the front porch.

This is interesting, about keeping feeders out all Yr., because I had a little ruby, that I thaught was not going to migrate, and left the feeders out past nov., in fact I think it was around the middle of Dec., after I had my stroke, I acually saw a rufus,getting refreshed, and notified my friend in Athens, and he came over to see him, and try to get pics.I live in NE Ga.,17 mi N of Athens. Mike

The next time this happens you need to call a bander in your area to come band the hummer. They love to band hummers that visit during the winter.

Sorry about your stroke. My hubby had one three years ago. It really changes your life. I do hope things are going well for you.

Welcome Dave! Great pics of all the birds. Thanks for sharing. ;-))

We have 4 Hummingbirds feeders, just like the one in 2 of Dave's photos. We change the sugar solution daily (to keep it extra fresh for the little Hummers).

I mostly plant flowers for the Hummers and the Butterflies (to keep them extra happy). ;-))

Great pics Deb!

Hi Dave,

Those are some nice pics! A couple of years ago I set up a feeder right outside of my home office window, and I had a little male rubythroat claim it as his own. He used to sit on a trellis right outside the window to guard the feeder, and I was able to take some close-up pics with my Nikon Coolpix. I had a lot of problems with the window glare, but did get a few good pics. I've been thinking about making a little hummer picture-taking shed, with some hanging plants set up about a foot or so away from a picture taking porthole. In my experience, the closer you get to your subject the better your chances at getting a good pic.

I nicknamed the little guy "Scraggley", since his feathers were usually ruffled, no doubt from all the fights he picked with any other hummer that dared to come by. Here's one of my favorite pics:

Mark

Mark;,

You may not need a shed with port holes..... You should be able to get rather close to these birds once they get use to you being around....... I have one that lands right on my hand while I hold the feeder in my other..... They sure are alot of fun........ Thanks for sharing you're picture.. I enjoy seeing them...


....Dave

Mark

Great pic! Thanks for sharing!

Marilyn