| For the Love of Hummingbirds |
| In my opinion, one of the lovliest birds is the Hummingbird. In my neck of the woods, the Ruby Throated Hummingbird is what I see and enjoy. Here are some pictures from my porch, deck and from inside looking out at them and my story of how I attracted them. |
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| Visit the HUMMINGBIRD LOVERS CLUB Website |
| "When the Feeder Burps" Photo Contest Winner |
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| Although I put up my first hummingbird feeder in 1988, it wasn't until 1992, and after we moved to the country, that I started getting more than an occasional visitor. However the only location I had for a feeder allowed for an occasional hummer to become imprisoned in my screened porch. Not wanting that, I discontinued hanging a feeder until I could put them in a safer location, on my front porch in 1999. Once I set up my two feeders there, I gradually had more and more visitors and my thrill of the little jewels became a passion. |
| I remember well the morning of March 29th, 2000, when as I raced out the door on my way to work, I was greeted almost face to face with a male Ruby looking for his feeder. I dropped everything and ran back inside to quickly mix up some nectar to fill a feeder for him. And yes I was late for work. |
| By the Spring of 2001, we had enclosed an addition to our home and I had a new window to view my hummingbirds from and to it I added a window feeder. This allowed me to stand inside, just out of their sight and watch them closer than I had ever been before. Soon I added a feeder to two other windows and began to learn how plantings and trees gave them cover and shaded their feeders. I added more "hummingbird flowers" to my gardens. This has helped increase the number of 'regular' hummers to my area and I believe it has inspired some of the females to nest in my area. |
| My first hummingbird of 2002 arrived on April 2. He was a very talkative fellow and has started this year's season off with a bang. I looked forward to a larger number of returning hummers as well as some new ones stopping by as they pass through heading north. As the summer progressed I had to increase the number of feeders at their favorite spot or fill the feeders several times each day. Hubby got a picture of a couple of hummers fighting over the feeder. |
| HUMMINGBIRD'S DIET Nectar Not only do hummingbirds like to dine at feeders but they enjoy abundant flowers, particularly tubular flowers. The more of these you have the more likely you will attract a hummingbird to your yard. Recipe for Nectar 1 part granulated sugar to 4 parts plain water. (no red food coloring is necessary!) Protein Hummingbirds must have protein along with nectar to survive. They get this from gnats, tiny spiders, aphids and other tiny insects. Please do not use pesticides in your gardens if you want to attract hummingbirds or any birds. They need these "bugs" to exist. It is also necessary for female hummers to aquire spider webs for nest building. We never pull down or clean spider webs until winter. |
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| My first hummer appeared on March 24th, 2003. He was earlier than I had ever had a hummer and he started the season off to a great start. Dispite the lose of all but 1 feeder during a spring tornado that damaged our home, we had more hummers than in the past thru the nesting season. We also introduced out webcam, AR Ruby Cam and ran it as often as we could during the season. |
| Award Winning Photo |