Show me your hummingbirds

Just goes to show that it's all about being in the right place at the right time . . .

Those babies are so cute! Guess their parents had the right idea to put their nest where they'd get extra protection for their hatchlings.

I have loved watching this thread as I adore the hummers. If I was closer to the nursery, I would definitely have gone and visited. I never get hummer pictures although I have two feeders and at least one nesting pair. The feeders are so far from the house that pics are impossible unless you make a specific effort. I played hookey today andhave been working on pruning roses. To my delight, the hummers were very active around the feeder that I was pruning by, and I just so happened to have my camera in my pocket when one came up to the feeder. Unfortunately it was overcast enough and this feeder is behind a large japonica, so had to use a flash, but still got an ok pic.

Nice shot, Julie! These hummers came for the Mahonia - so plant a stand of that and you might see them more often in winter.

Katie, we have some Mahonia, but not much. Will have to remedy that and see if it makes a difference! They love my Pieris this time of year, so I have a feeder next to one. The nesting pair are very protective of that particular feeder! I always plant Pineapple Sage in the spring, and they love that in the fall. We had one around as late as the end of November, but haven't seen any year round residents. We usually put up the feeders in the begining of March...they were really late this year..saw the first one on the 23rd.

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share a couple of pictures I took over the summer. I just discovered hummingbirds in my garden last year, so I pretty much stalked them the whole season. I can guarantee that my neighbors thought I was "strange", when I would stand by the tree for 10 to 15 minutes at a time without moving. Who knows though, they're probably used to my strange behavior when I'm in the garden. ;-)

- Jana

I jumped back on this one, becuase he got right in my face. They were probably tired of me stalking them. :-)

One more...this is the first one that started it all.

Jana, Great pics...especially the one that is coming right at you! And the daisy in the last one is stunning too...no wonder the hummer was hovering around it! Once the hummers get used to you being in the garden, they get pretty brave don't they? I made the mistake of wearing a pink top one day in the garden when the hummers were really active. It only took me a few close encounters to decide to go in and change shirts! Poor little things thought they had found the motherlode and got kind of testy when they didn't find any nectar hidden in it!

So many good pictures.....

My only Hummer picture isn't really good, but take a look at the background so you know when it was taken..............

Julie - that's hilarious! I hadn't thought about what color of shirt I was wearing. Maybe that's why they buzzed by a few times...scared the crap outta me. ;-)

Trisha - I was wondering if they're around in the winter, and your picture proves it. I think I'll go change the feeders, and maybe they'll come back to my place too. Lucky you!

I think Anna's hummingbird is the only one around in the winter; the rest migrate.

Hummingbirds are actually very aggressive birds - the videos on e-hummingbirds.com show them fighting eachother off for prime feeding territory.

I meant also to say that I think you've gotten some great pictures, everyone. As we see them more on this thread, I'll be more of us will plant to make sure they're getting as much food as possible.

Julie, the stand of Mahonia that Molbak's had consisted of about 20 plants in gallon pots that were 2 feet tall and in full bloom. You could smell them when you walked into the greenhouse. That little hummingbird was pretty smart to have chosen to live where she did . . .

Trisha, cool to have hummers in the snow! Wish we could keep ours year round, but I lost two feeders the one year I tried to keep them up in the winter (froze and broke) so I gave up on that. We always put them back up around the 5th of March, and have the first customer (at least the first that we see) somewhere around the 10th to the 23rd. He was really late this year and didn't show up till the 24th...we were getting somewhat impatient!

Jana--It's definitely feeder time! I am convinced (for no scientific reason..just my own logic) that the hummers will come back to the same yard the following year if they are well fed. As for the shirt color, it was just speculation, but they left me at peace when I changed. They are agressive little critters, aren't they? :)

Katie, we crossed...yup, the hummers at Molbak's were pretty smart in choosing their nesting area! Not only did they have a bulk of mahonia when they arrived, but I bet they will be treated to quite a few other hummer friendly plants in quantity as the season moves on. How could they not be treated like royalty with both employees and customers doting on her?

I agree, there are tons of plants and flowers that are not only beautiful but attract both butterflys and hummers to the garden, and their presence adds a glorious dimension to the garden. We have always landscaped for the creatures as well as ourselves just to guarantee that dimension.

This is a fun link that kind of corresponds to this topic...Mom and I have been watching the hummingbird migration, as well as everything else on the site.

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/

I just went and changed them, since it had been a while...crossing my fingers.

I'd like to get a new feeder, the kind where they can land and drink, and not have to hover. They love my Jacob Cline bee balm, so I planted another one for them, but that won't be out for a while. I also saw them on the agastaches last summer.

Julie, what a fun site.

I saw briefly a piece on Planet Earth that pictured the Bering Sea off Alaska, to which many species of birds and whales to to winter over. The number of creatures they photographed in that area was stunning - almost magical, really.

When I was a kid in Fairbanks, one major harbinger of spring was "The Geese Showing up at Creamer's Field". Creamers Field was a big field at the edge of town at Creamer's Dairy (don't EVEN ask me how they took care of dairy cows at 60 below zero). On Sunday afternoon, my parents and I would stop at Dairy Queen to get a treat and then go to Creamer's Dairy to watch the geese. My mother always wore saddle shoes (these were probably 15 years old, because this was in the mid to late 60's), which we called her "goose shoes" because that was really the only time she wore them.


This message was edited Apr 2, 2009 12:03 PM

Julie - thanks for the link! What cool information.

Neat thread:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/966081/

Katie...WOW! Thanks for the link! I think that if I had that kind of observation opportunity, it would be really hard for me not to call in sick to work and just sit there and watch them!

Here's my winter hummer feeder solution. Not ideal, but better than getting up at 5am to bring the feeders back out-not too reasonable for a night owl like me....We use a fairly low-watt 75w flood light mounted somewhere around 12 or 18" below the feeder and only turn it on on nights that get really cold. It's just enough heat when mounted that low to keep the nectar from freezing. We found, but haven't bought yet, an outlet plug-in that has a thermostat in it that will turn on at 35' and off at 40'-we want to get one of those for next year.

Sue - what a great idea and a great effort to go to for your hummingbirds. It looks so toasty.

You should post that in the birdwatching forum - I'll bet a lot of people would be interested in your design.

Kathy, thanks! But, I'm sure other folks have done similar things. My next door neighbor strung xmas lights around her taller glass one (Like Julie's) and that worked well, too. My feeder is plastic, so this is the best we've come up with so far.

Susybell, do you get customers at your feeder in the winter? I would love to have them all year!

I never even thought about using lights on mine as they are too far from the house, but I have decided to buy one more feeder and put it outside my living room window, and that would be the perfect place for a little light display in the winter as well! We use lights to keep the pipes from freezing..why not the feeder? It is also on the sheltered and wooded side of my house where the hummers nest, so that should be the most conducive place for them to hang through the winter if they planned on it.

Thanks for the idea!

Hi Julie, you're welcome! :) And, yes, we have year-round Anna's here. I'm not quite sure how many there are, at least two. Because my next door neighbor and I both feed them they do pretty well. (I think they nest in the trees right on the property line between our houses.)
This feeder is right outside my family room window so I can sit on the couch and watch them, which is great and a lot of fun, too.It's how I got that other hummer picture I posted earlier. Give it a try-sounds like you've got a perfect spot for it! You must be at a higher elevation than I am, so even if they don't end up staying all year it will probably extend your season quite a bit. :)

Colliwobbles, forgot to mention earlier how neat your hummer pictures were-I love that one of it hovering and looking right at you! One summer I had one that would come and see what I was doing and kind of follow me around-that was really cool. Another time I was startled big-time when two in the middle of a territory battle zoomed around me at the same time. The rufous ones are so much louder than the Anna's, and so entertaining. I wish they'd stick around here, but I'm just a waypoint on their trips north and south. Could be the downside of having a year-round denizen is that the territory is defended all year by the same fellow-very staunchly defended....

I saw one in late November last year enjoying the pineapple sage that was still in bloom, so we might be able to keep them year round (with the exception of this year..nothing in it's right mind would have hung out through this winter if it had a choice!). We are at 700+ feet, so definitely have a different climate than those lower and closer to the water. We are fully wooded however, so have a lot of protected area that stays milder unless the weather gets really wierd. Worth a try anyway!

Yeah, it was finally warm enough I could stay outside long enough to take a picture.

What a fun thread!

Hi sunnyg, hummingbird whisperer. Nice to see you here!

I finally have hummers at my two feeders. They are here regularly now, a red one and a green one, so at least two. The red one was at the thistle seed feeder today eating the seeds. I could see it's tongue going in and out. How weird is that.

I Finley got a chance to take some pics, got home early enough to sit on the deck and enjoy some sun and get my vitamin D dose. Thats whats wrong no D.
Got the camera sit watch them, get a shot and the batteries go dead no back ups charged DARN IT. (charging in prosses)

But I got this one. Love my new camera

Willow, How strange! Didn't think that the hummers ate seeds, but I do know they eat bugs. Maybe some teeny bugs in the thistle seed? Still, fun to watch!

Tilly, Very nice pic! Mine are still camera shy. After my first photo op, now every time I get the camera out, they hide.

Tills.....nice picture!

Willow....what a thing to see, I didn't know they would eat thistle. Never seen one on my thistle feeder. How neat!!

Got these today, what a wonderfull day it was.

Another.

Nice pictures, Mary. I especially like the one in which he's flying and looking straight at the camera.

Tilly, More great pics! I am now very determined to put the feeder close to the house so I can get some shots. Just need to find the time to get the third feeder...know what I want, but it's at Home Depot, and with the weather as nice as it was today, just wanted to be home and outside rather than at the store after work!

Here's one from today.

Just beautiful Sally! This is the first time I've seen a thumbnail that was so obviously cut off...glad I went to the full picture!

That's because I'm still trying to learn to use Picasa, it's a good thing DG crops. LOL