Hummingbirds 2012

[upthesaukee]

Just a reminder...get the feeders ready for the hummingbirds. Last year we had them buzzing around our locations around May 1st, earlier than the usual Mother's Day sightings...I put mine out this morning.

[hilltopper]

I put mine out last weekend thinking maybe they'd be early like everything else this Spring. Guess not...

[Barney Bear]

We put our feeder out last weekend [April 20th]. Perhaps this weekend's winds blew them back to Central America.

[Belmont Resident]

But then the temps dropped down below freezing and I decided to wait.
But I did have what looked like a mayfly land on me today

[hilltopper]

They appeared at my place on Saturday. Welcome back!

[Belmont Resident]

Working in Long Bay and I got buzzed by one today.

[Lucy Goose]

Yep they are back here in Melvin!

[Jonas Pilot]

WE need PROOF!!! Show pictures! Easier said than done. It might take a while but I'll try to post a hummer pic this season. Anybody else?

[upthesaukee]

Just at dusk, had one sit down on the perch of our front feeder and stay for about 2 minutes. Tried to get a pic with my camera on my phone, but to no avail. Too dark outside to really see it. But they are back...Yahoo!!!!

[hilltopper]

Originally Posted by Jonas Pilot

WE need PROOF!!! Show pictures! Easier said than done. It might take a while but I'll try to post a hummer pic this season. Anybody else?

I wish I could take a decent picture through a glass window. Every year a male seems to take up residence in an azalea (sp?) bush below the feeder. I can watch it sit there for minutes from about two feet away but because the window seperates us I guess he doesn't see me. Often when I look out the upstairs window I can see a female sitting in the branches of the maple tree above the feeder.

[Five Mile]

Here it is 5/9/2012 and we have not see a hummingbird on the north side of the lake. (Becky's Garden). My feeders have been out for over a week now and still nothing. I thought that I was late but still nothing!

[Five Mile]

I have a new camcorder so I will be attempting to video these wonderful little creatures from my front deck this summer. Hope to have some
soon!

[inquiring one]

I noticed the hummingbirds here in Moultonboro on the 9th & was happy to see them!

[SteveA]

Had this little guy at the feeder yesterday morning. I wasn't "prepared" so the pictures aren't too good.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

I thought that I caught a glimpse of a hummingbird on Thursday night. Finally saw it well yesterday afternoon. Such impressive birds!

[SteveA]

Originally Posted by Jonas Pilot

WE need PROOF!!! Show pictures! Easier said than done. It might take a while but I'll try to post a hummer pic this season. Anybody else?

JP...

This is the best "how to" on photographing hummers I've seen.

http://www.dyesscreek.com/miscellane...s/howto_1.html

The pics I took were without a flash

[Lakesrider]

Mine are out. Already saw two different colored ones eary today before the rain came in. Still freaks me out though. I keep thinking they are a big bumble bee buzzing me....

[WinterHarborGirl]

Originally Posted by SteveA

Had this little guy at the feeder yesterday morning. I wasn't "prepared" so the pictures aren't too good.

Attachment 6129

Attachment 6130

These pictures are fabulous!!! Had one at my house today in Mass!!!! Love to see them!!!

[Lakesrider]

Steve, or anyone else for that matter, what do you use for nectar? Just wondering.....

[Jonas Pilot]

Personally, I like Molson Ice.

[WinterHarborGirl]

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

Steve, or anyone else for that matter, what do you use for nectar? Just wondering.....

They say sugar water....All I had was a hanging petunia...they were all over it...

[hilltopper]

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

Steve, or anyone else for that matter, what do you use for nectar? Just wondering.....

4 parts water, 1 part sugar. I ususally boil the water before adding the sugar. The color of the actual feeder helps attract the bird so the liquid being red is not necessary.

[SteveA]

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

Steve, or anyone else for that matter, what do you use for nectar? Just wondering.....

I'm using two types of store bought. One is colorless, the other is a red concentrate that you add water to.

Hilltoper is exactly correct about the color of the fluid being unimportant. They are attracted to the color of the feeder or the actually flowers.

[SteveA]

I was surprised to see a visitor in the pouring rain very early this morning.

[hilltopper]

They've been quite active at my feeder this morning. I even saw one snacking in the rhododendron. I guess the little buggers don't mind the rain!

[Jonas Pilot]

Weather systems trigger activity too. Meaning the accompanying change in atmospheric pressure.

[SteveA]

Got these late yesterday afternoon.

[JTA]

Because I live in Florida, I haven't put my feeder out soon enough for the hummingbirds to bookmark my location. Thus, disappointment as my feeder hung there with no activity. This year, after seeing this thread, I instructed the kids to put out the feeder when they opened the camp. So, they mixed up the nectar and hung the feeder. When I arrived I saw that the feeder was empty (a good sign) and so I filled it with my fancy red commercial stuff. I noticed that a bird would come, take a taste, and fly away (not good). Yesterday I dumped the red crap and mixed up some nectar from scratch. Now I'm getting wonderful activity at the feeder. I'm thrilled!!

[Greene's Basin Girl]

The hummingbirds do not like the store mixture. Mine like the homemade 4 to 1 water to suger ratio mixture

[Rattlesnake Gal]

At one point in time as I was making my nectar, I though it might be good for the hummingbirds to have a stronger ratio of sugar because they are so active. A Google search led my to lots of reasons why this is a bad idea. Green's Basin Girl is right, the mixture should be one part sugar to four parts water with no coloring.

[hilltopper]

Tons of hummingbird activity now that the little ones have hatched. I saw five at one time at my place the other day (I have 2 feeders about 20 feet apart). Pretty much every morning I wake up I look out the window into the maple tree above one of the feeders and there's a male, always perched on the same twig-like branch.

I was wondering if anyone knows this... Would this year's males have a visible, ruby colored patch on their throat yet?

[Lucy Goose]

They are getting extremely active. I have lots of them. Didn't have much time to spend outside shooting but I will. So this is a start. Female.

Check it out on SmugMug where I have lots of NH and Lake Winni nature photos.

http://brendajacobsphotography.smugm...4645722_vGjCKn

[Newbiesaukee]

Have they switched to protein for the year? None at my feeder for more than a week now.

[Jonas Pilot]

Originally Posted by Newbiesaukee

Have they switched to protein for the year? None at my feeder for more than a week now.

Same here in Wolfeboro. I think they have started their long journey south.

[Lucy Goose]

Seems they have started their journey to Peru. I had tons of them and now see only a few!

Lucy Goose

[Greene's Basin Girl]

They always leave the area shortly after Labor Day.

[ApS]

Yesterday, I saw a hummingbird investigating a bright-red maple leaf!

[Greene's Basin Girl]

I saw one on Sunday.

[hilltopper]

Feeders are still up in the event that some who breeded north of here want to stop in for a snack on their way south, but our resident birds have not been seen for 5 or so days.

[RLW]

We still have 6 or 7 chasing each other around here on the mountain. I would say mostly females, however we do see a male now and then. We have a large feeder and it is gone in about a day and a half. I'm guessing that in the next day or two we will not be seeing as many if any at all. Well another year is coming to bring them all back again.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

We've only one or two left that are not eating much. You can tell this little bird is cold! Haven't spotted it today... hope it started the long trek to it's winter home.

(Sorry for the blurry picture. The windows on the porch were closed yesterday, so the screen was up and in the way.)

[Newbiesaukee]

After seeing none for 10 days, there was one at my feeder this evening. Guess I'll keep it up for stragglers.

[RLW]

Our feeder is coming down today after not viewing any hummers now for 5 days up here on Alton Mountain. Yep, it is time to wash it out good and put it into storage until next spring/summer. May they all have good & safe flights back to the south.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Gal

Attachment 6664

We've only one or two left that are not eating much. You can tell this little bird is cold! Haven't spotted it today... hope it started the long trek to it's winter home.

'Checking Wikipedia for just how long that trek is:

"In late summer to early fall they fatten up for migration. This is important because, as part of their migration, they must fly across the Gulf of Mexico. This feat is impressive, as a 500-mile, non-stop flight over water would seemingly require a caloric energy that far exceeds an adult hummingbird's body weight of 3 grams. However, researchers discovered the tiny birds can increase their body mass up to double with lean mass in preparation for their Gulf crossing. The additional mass, stored as fat, provides enough energy for the birds to achieve the flight."

A hummingbird is three grams in weight? How many aspirin tablets is that?!

But what's the big deal, anyway? I can do 500 miles sitting down!