Saturday 16 May 2015

Hummingbirds

female hummer


The Ontario Hummingbird sightings map were encouraging! I watched with great anticipation.
Journey North provides North American hummingbird information.

Bloggers to the south posted their first sightings and I knew they were on the way! My feeders up May 2nd, sightings nearby in the county.

I spotted my first hummer May 5th, at 3:00 p.m., and he loved my Orchid cactus. Didn't love me, though, and he took off. They've been a bit shy. I decided to move the back deck feeder to have to in the front. I thought that might reduce the food fights. NOPE! They are still buzzing one another. I only seem to have two, at this point.



One of the bonuses of being at my client's house: is that he has several bird feeders up. This is his feeder. The silly thing saw me, and she zoomed by 2' away alongside me!

I posted some facts (mating, size, feeding babies about them in this previous post. Don't forget all those important ideas about hummingbird food and cleaning hummingbird birdfeeders:

Hummingbird Nectar Recipe

  • 1 part sugar/4 parts water
  • Boil the mixture for 5 minutes to kill bacteria
  • Thoroughly clean the feeder by rinsing with one part white vinegar to four parts water.
  • Do this weekly after the feeder is up and going, especially in hot weather.
  • Check to see if the nectar is cloudy, which could mean (deadly) bacteria.
  • Let cool and store excess in refrigerator until ready to use.
  • If the feeder is dirty, add a few grains of dry rice to the vinegar solution to help scrub it clean, as an abrasive.
  • Rinse out the vinegar wash by rinsing three times with clear, warm water before refilling with sugar solution.
  • Do not add food coloring, honey (which ferments), or artificial sweetener, which has no nutritional value.
National Audubon Society brochure (PDF)

16 comments:

eileeninmd said...

I love the hummers. Great post and information on feeding the hummingbirds. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Wonderful series of shots of the HUmmingbirds. Have a wonderful weekend.

TexWisGirl said...

love these tiny beings!

William Kendall said...

They're amazing flyers.

Olga said...

Thanks for the recipe and cleaning hints. The hummingbirds are knocking on the door now. Bird feeding was always Mike's job.

Nancy J said...

Wow, the feeders have to be kept so clean, this makes sense with a sugar mixture, I hope you get to see many more, they are so beautiful when hovering.

Kay said...

I believe I only saw hummers twice in Illinois. I think they were hummers. None here in Hawaii. I loved seeing them when we traveled. I hope you get more of them soon.

Latane Barton said...

Jennifer, I have been trying my best to catch a hummer at the feeder...when I have camera in hand, but haven't been successful. You've got me beat.

A Colorful World said...

Fantastic photos! So glad your hummer have arrived!

Unknown said...

Gorgeous hummingbirds! I've only seen them on tv.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Outstanding!!! There were several varieties of 'sunbird' (as they're called there), of which I just never managed any decent shot. I really do miss the bird varieties of my previous homes! YAM xx

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Cute little birdies...territorial by nature!
~

Pat said...

Love those little birds. Haven't seen them her yet.

carol l mckenna said...

Wonderful shots of a beautiful bird!
Thanks for recipe too!

Happy Week to you,
artmusedog and carol

Gill - That British Woman said...

what an interesting post. Thanks for sharing.

EG CameraGirl said...

Hummers are very cute but also quite territorial!