Hummingbirds are going to be early!

I loved this feeder.
Busted it this past month!

This is a great site, where they are mapping sightings of these birds. You can compare 2011 sightings with 2012.

It's called Journey North, and it is a great learning tool for kids 8 to 80!
I'm not sure if it is a non-profit, but it appears to be so. I checked out the site-map and it wasn't clear. It is free to participate, which is the important thing for me!

Journey North engages students in a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. K-12 students share their own field observations with classmates across North America. They track the coming of spring through the migration patterns of monarch butterflies,robins, hummingbirds, whooping cranes, gray whales, bald eagles— and other birds and mammals; the budding of plants; changing sunlight; and other natural events. Find migration maps, pictures, standards-based lesson plans, activities and information to help students make local observations and fit them into a global context. Widely considered a best-practices model for education, Journey North is the nation's premiere "citizen science" project for children. The general public is welcome to participate.


To clean your bird feeder DO NOT USE SOAP! Use vinegar and water and shake it in the feeder. If there is mold in it, then add some grains of rice that will scrub it.


Just for fun: a hummingbird moth!

hummingbird moth!

Difficult to photograph!

Hummingbird Nectar Recipe
• 1 part sugar to 4 parts water (e.g., i cup sugar, 4 of water)
• Boil the mixture for 5 minutes to kill bacteria
• Let cool and store excess in refrigerator until ready to use.
• 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.
• If the feeder is visibly 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.

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