Topic: Hummers are back!

[Jim]

The hummingbirds are back!  Dianna has had a feeder out for about a week now and we saw our first hummer yesterday.  We had lots last year.  I'm sure some of you remember the one Dianna rescued.  She has pics and probably had them on another forum.  I hope she puts the things Wrennie sent her on the glass this year so that won't happen. 

Last year we had about 10 that would empty two feeders in about 2 days.  We love watching them.

[littlebrat]

Oh hummers!!! I love hummers. If you can get some pics I would love to see them!I would type more but I just burned my thumb. Lol clumbsy me!

[Jim]

Our hummers came back and I have been trying to get a pic and today finally got a few.  They disappeared on us for a couple of weeks and Dianna thought they may have been nesting or in the family way.  Anyway they aren't the numbers we had last year but it's just the beginning of summer so I'm sure we will see more.  I did get a few pics this afternoon.



This is our resident female.



This is our male so the family should be multiplying soon. 

[plants n pots]

Those are FANTASTIC pictures, Jim!!!

My hummers have not been around for several days now - I'm beginning to get worried - they've never come and then disappeared for so long before!

[Dianna]

Great pictures, Jim. That new camera is taking some awesome pictures for you...

I may want a camera like yours when my old one goes out!

[Bonnie]

I may want a camera like yours when my old one goes out!

Monkey see
Monkey do
Dog gone it
I want one too

Bonnie

Just wait til I tell Sweetpea and Henri that ya'll have a couple of hummers too.

[Jim]

My hummers have not been around for several days now - I'm beginning to get worried - they've never come and then disappeared for so long before!

Ours did that in the early part of May.  For the longest time we only saw the male.  Now we are seeing both and we have out 2 large feeders and 2 tiny ones and they empty them in 3 or 4 days.  I can't wait till they get like last year and have a feeder with 4 spots full of birds and several others trying to get in and get some too.

Just wait til I tell Sweetpea and Henri that ya'll have a couple of hummers too.

Yeah but ours don't come with payments and the sugar water is much cheaper than gas. 

[Pharmerphil]

i was standing on the step ladder the other day talking through the window to Laura, and had a hummer hovering above my elbow...Love those lil critters

[Patty S]

Your bird pics are absolutely awesome, Jim! At first glance, I actually thought I saw wings flapping! Freaked me right out!

This is a good place for my hummingbird story!

When I was about 10 years old, we went to visit some friends of my folks', who lived on the outskirts of Anaconda, Montana.  Their property included a big round hill with all kinds of flowers & low-growing shrubs growing on it, & they gave me permission to climb it.  (I wanted to go up to the top & find a rock to sit on, so I could write in my diary.) It took about 45 minutes to get to the top... (good thing the lady sent a jug of water with me), & I picked flowers on my way.  It was a beautiful day, & I found the rock I expected to be there, & started writing. 

After a while I heard a buzzing sound & thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye, but figured that it must have been a small airplane somewhere, & the noise went away.  A few minutes later, the buzzing came again, louder... & I saw (what I thought to be) two giant bees trying to dive-bomb me!  

I slammed my diary shut, grabbed the flowers I'd picked, & I'm sure that this skinny little redhead had never moved so fast, in her life! I swear, it took me all of 3 minutes to get off that hill!  I ran into the house screaming like a maniac, "they have giant bees here"! The lady we were visiting was a school teacher, & she calmed me down, got a book out, & showed me a picture of my "bees"!  (I'd never seen nor heard of them before!) To this day, every time I see a hummer I have to smile for that memory!  Fantastic creatures, hummingbirds! 

Footnote: While my folks & my sisters wanted to laugh at me, the lady handled the situation with a tender sensitivity that seemed to shut everybody up.... & no one ever teased me about my mistake! (I believe that this single experience changed my life, as it was what inspired me to be a teacher, & strive to see things from the eyes of innocent little beholders!)

[kratz7]

Beautiful Hunmmingbird photos Jim and Great story Patty....
I love hummingbirds, but I don't see them near enough........

Thanks you two for sharing.....

Do you have anymore photos?

[Dianna]

This little hummer met the patio door last year and then hit the floor. I picked her up to keep Angel from messing with her. She stayed in my palm for a few minutes, recovered her strength and her senses, and took back off into the wild blue yonder.



It was quite an experience for me to hold her in my hand. She was so very tiny that I felt as if I had nothing but air in my hand...

I bought some decals from Wrennie to put on my glass and they work a little bit. I need to order some more from her. The birds always seem to find the unprotected spot!

[Jim]

The hummers were really out tonight after the rain.  Here's a couple of shots of one of the little males.




This one thinks he is the king I guess checking over his shoulder!

[Jim]

And a few of the 3 females that seemed to be fighting over the feeder when the males weren't around.




This is my favorite shot.

We saw a total of 5, 3 females and 2 males tonight. 

[Patty S]

I had never thought about it before, but there must be different species of hummers too!

Every time they come to the front window to hang out in the Cannas, Keith alerts me, but when I show up in there with my camera, they go away! Keith says that it's cuz they see me approaching the window, but just a few minutes ago, only one flew away & the other one hung back & wasn't about to be bothered by something that he probably knew was on the other side of the glass... he looked right at me!
     

He must have thought there was something to drink inside the seed pods, cuz he kept sticking his little needle-beak in between the little pink thingies.
     

Then he went back to testing out the Canna flowers,
     

& it didn't even bother him when the Quail strolled across the yard!
     
(Thanx to BG, I know how to use my zoom effectively now!)

Anyhow, the hummers here don't seem to be as colorful as the ones where Jim & Dianna are.

Dianna, how do you know which ones are girls & which ones ae boys?

[patches]

Oh, Patty, you have hummers today!!!    I haven't seen mine for the past couple of days, ever since these sweltering temperatures started.  I've been worried that they won't come back.  I'm going to make some more food tomorrow and put it out, but I know it heats up in a very short time and don't think they like it when it's hot.        

Awesome pictures everyone!  I really loved seeing the one in your hand, Dianna!!! What a memorable experience.   

[Jim]

Oh yeah, there are lots of species of hummingbirds. 

Ours are called Ruby-throated and the males all have the red band around their neck.  The females don't.

Here is a great site for just about all you want to know about hummers.  There's a tab for species by state.  It appears you have a number of different ones so it could be a chore to identify them.

We love watching them and have also noticed that they don't come out much when it is this hot.  They sure do love it right after it rains or during the rain.  The most recent pics are right after a rain.

[Dianna]

Patty, I thought we had the Rufous, but Jim is right. We have the ruby-throated hummingbirds.

I would assume that the males would be more brilliantly colored in the bird world...

That is a great link for hummingbird identification!

[Jim]

Thought I would bump this topic because it's about time for the little hummers to be showing up.  Here is a link to the migration map.  It appears that last year they started appearing in SC about 3/19.  I thought we would get a feeder out to see how early we can spot one.  Hope to get that out this weekend. 

[Tonya]

Funny that you bumped this up today(well, actually last night..) because just as Summer's bus was pulling away this morning, I had what I'm pretty sure was a hummer fly past my head I think they're here!!

[Jim]

It's possible with the wacky weather we have been having.  I don't see any pins on the migration map for SC or NC so you may have seen the first.  You can submit your sighting and they will stick a pin in your location.  I haven't seen any yet but hope to soon.

[Tonya]

I am wondering now if it might have been another type of bird.....I saw a type of Wren(I think) that is about the same size and I didn't hear the "humming" sound when it flew by. Not sure. I'm getting a new feeder this weekend just in case!

[Triss]

Oh thanks for the reminder on this one.  I need to get my feeders cleaned and make some food.

[patches]

Well, it's still a little early to be putting them out here.   I usually do it the first week of April, but I'll see what the weather is like next week-end and may do it a little early to see waht happens.   

[Tonya]

Doug is out getting feeders for meso I can get them up. I am so glad that winter seems to be over and now I can get outside to watch them again.

[Penny]

Those are some great pictures!!