Hummingbirds...

[stacyeking]

I really enjoy watching the little guys and dolls on my porch feeders. We had some very destructive weather this spring right about the time the were coming through and my numbers were down to start with but now they are all back as normal. I was thrilled on that day in early Spring when I finally saw one, obviously a regular, eyeing the nail where the feeder was supposed to be!

Here are a couple of pics I took. I'm just learning the manual settings on my new camera and thought the little hummers would make good subject matter. Lord knows the horses won't be still!

 

[Charlene]

i have 10 feeders out, i fill them every day, it's almost a part-time job! once the trumpet vine is done blooming, i'll have many more hummers. ours get pretty tame.

me...

gary's brother...

i have a bazillion hummer pics. about a 4-6 weeks before migration in the fall, it's not at all unusual for us to have 100 of them buzzing around here. love 'em!!

 

[stacyeking]

OH WOW thanks for sharing!!!! That is so very cool to have them on your finger like that. Ours are NOT that tame! They tolerate us pretty good but I never thought I'd see one sitting on a finger.

Stacye

 

[Charlene]

stacye, try this...take all but one feeder down and put it out of their sight. take the last feeder and simply hold it out in your hand. it won't take them long to come to it. if you have very many, they are more concerned about keeping the others away and won't pay any attention to you. after you get them coming to that one feeder, hang it up. put your finger next to the perch and be very verrrrry still. it might take a few minutes but i bet you'll get one land on your finger. IT TICKLES! lol!

 

[barnbum]

I caught one--took patience, a lot of patience.

 

[Miniv]

Keep those pictures coming!!! LOVE hummers!!!!

Charlene, thank you for sharing those...........I swear the little guys just seem to know that people in general love them.

 

[Charlene]

we have many of the same ones come back year after year. i can tell because a few times, they have arrived before i've had a chance to put feeders out. they will fly to the exact spots where i always hang feeders and they'll hover for a few seconds.

when i have time, i'll find a couple of videos i have. they get very vocal here, too!

 

[Charlene]

can somebody remind me how to post a video? doh!!!

EDIT: oh heck, just click on this. turn your sound up. i had taken feeders down to refill/clean them. when i do that, the hummies get FRANTIC!

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/Nina...=hummievid1.flv

 

[barnbum]

Wow!! I've never seen more than 2 hummers at a time--that was amazing! Like a hummer safari!

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Charlene did you know that hummingbirds are the symbol of love and it's sweetness? Look at all that love!

 

[minimomNC]

Do you get that many because of multiple feeders? I know I have a couple of hummers that will guard the feeders and run off a new bird. If thats the case, I am buying more, they are my favorites.

Here is a picture I took through my office window.

 

[Charlene]

Charlene did you know that hummingbirds are the symbol of love and it's sweetness? Look at all that love!

yep, i sure do know that.

what you DON'T see in the video are another 30-40 hummies that were out of camera range. gary and i used to sit on the glider on the deck and marvel at the hummies. we took turns holding one of the feeders in our laps and having swarms of hummies surround it.

minimom, the more feeders you have out, the more hummies you will get. i'll warn you though, you will have to hire help to keep them all filled! this is particularly true during late summer/very early fall just prior to migration. people have told me i need to put a sign at the entrance to our back deck..."WARNING: HUMMINGBIRD INVASION!"

i leave one or two feeders out until mid-november, just in case i get a hummie pass through on its way to their winter destination. i can almost set my watch as to when they will return, usually may 4, each year.

 

[sundancer]

That are something to watch! I have just one multi feeder on my deck railing and its like grand central station!! I love it! They are amazing to watch. I do have some pictures that I will try to put on here. I have been trying to scrap my deck down to repaint it and boy do they get miffed when I am near the feeder! They are leary of humans! I think they are just amazing!

Julie

Victory Pass Stable

Cumberland Maine

 

[Sterling]

can somebody remind me how to post a video? doh!!!

EDIT: oh heck, just click on this. turn your sound up. i had taken feeders down to refill/clean them. when i do that, the hummies get FRANTIC!

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/Nina...=hummievid1.flv

OMG NO WAY!!!!! That is absolutely AMAZING!!!!! I have never before seen that many Hummers around. Beautiful pictures too everyone! The most we got in any given time were two. They'd feed once in a blue moon. Then they'd leave and not come back. SO I was pretty much feeding the air and the wasps.

 

[stacyeking]

stacye, try this...take all but one feeder down and put it out of their sight. take the last feeder and simply hold it out in your hand. it won't take them long to come to it. if you have very many, they are more concerned about keeping the others away and won't pay any attention to you. after you get them coming to that one feeder, hang it up. put your finger next to the perch and be very verrrrry still. it might take a few minutes but i bet you'll get one land on your finger. IT TICKLES! lol!

Thank you Charlene, for the tip. I will try that this evening when they are very active. I tried moving my chair close to the busiest feeder this morning but they would come and laugh at me and head out to another! I guess taking all of them down but one would be a pretty good trick!

Maybe by the end of the season I'll have some pics of hummies on MY fingers!

Stacye

 

[Charlene]

LOL sterling...WAY!!! that's just where ONE feeder hangs. it's that way most of the time around all 10 feeders. i have often wondered if, one of these days when i'm buying 30# of sugar at a time, i'm gonna get thrown in the pokie as a suspected meth cooker.

stacye, i bet it'll happen before the end of the season, if you're patient.

 

[Minihorses101]

This was taken by my brother a few days ago...

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

Very nice, great pics Stacye. I have been feeding my little hummers for 17 years here, never got any pics. I will try my skill at getting some pics too. Real little cuties aren't they?

Charlene that is so awesome, you are the best hummie Mommy!

The pics are all so great and the video, I just love the chirping sounds they make. It does sound like they are laughing. They come and fly right at your face and look at you like hay you lookin at me!

Love your pic Minihorses101!

I'm gona go play with the hummers!

 

[SunQuest]

Cool pictures! On rare occasions I might see a humming bird, but I just love to watch them when I do! We never get more than one at a time it seems, and they definately are not real tame. Just sitting on the porch and watching them will cause them to fly away. So lucky you for having such a treasure!

 

[Windhaven]

Hummers are so neat.

Back when I lived in MI, I put out feeders for the little hummers. Well it was early May one spring and the hummers where back so I put out my feeders. One was on my kitchen window and the other just off the porch. When I got up one COLD morning (it dropped down to freezing that night and the humming bird food was frozen) and looked out my kitchen window. There frozen (not totally) on the perch of the feeder was a little humming bird. Well I put on some gloves and went out and gently picked the humming bird off the perch and held it in my cupped hands to warm it up. After about ten minutes it was ready to fly away, and away it went. I didn't think fast enough to get pictures either. I feel so sorry for those birds when it gets cold like that. They just can't keep themselves warm.

Now that we live in GA and I put out feeders, them come in droves. I had quite a few in MI to but I have double that down here.