I had my first hummingbird visitor yesterday.

[Arkansas Granny]

I had a feeder hanging in my office window last year and it was quite popular. Yesterday afternoon a hummer, a male Ruby Throat, flew up to my window an looked around and left. It was pretty obvious that he had been here before and was expecting something.

That prompted me to get out the feeder and whip up a batch of nectar. It hadn't been up for more than 5 minutes before he was back. He made several visits yesterday and has been back today.

Last summer I had 6 - 8 birds at a time trying to access a 3 station feeder. I'm going to hang an extra feeder this year and see how that goes. Those little birds just amaze me.

[fizzgig]

1. i love hummers

we camped a lot when we were kids and mom always put up a feeder for them. i hear them in town sometimes and have a feeder, so i'll put it up when the weather turns for good.

[mnhtnbb]

2. AG, I use this website to watch when the hummers are expected here

And I've always heard to put up your feeders when the trees are blooming.
I spotted our first one here this year at one of my feeders on April 9th.

http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html

[hibbing]

3. boo hoo

Thanks for the map, as I already knew we don't get them where I live. Just a bit a ways from the range. I have seen one or two just by chance over the years, I have a feeling they were lost. We used to vacation in Colorado for a week in the mountains and always put one out, they were plentiful. Oddly though, my brother lives a bit north of Denver and they don't get them. Not sure why that is, anyone?

Peace

[Skittles]

4. love watching hummingbirds

[lovemydog]

5. Yeah, hummingbirds are amazing to watch!

[shenmue]

6. Squeeeee!

[sakabatou]

7. We had a hummingbird nest at my house

[Arkansas Granny]

9. I've seen a few of them. They are just amazing.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. I put up a second feeder yesterday and it didn't take long for them to find it.

I have seen three different hummingbirds for sure, 2 females and 1 male. There may be more, but I can't be sure.

Our office is located on an old military base and there's lots of open areas around here and a good variety of birds including hawks, meadow larks, killdeer, Canada geese, barn swallows, mockingbirds and turkey buzzards. We've even seen an immature bald eagle catching fish from a pond just a few hundred feet from our parking lot.

[Phentex]

10. I'm going to have to add one to the back because

we always get one bird who guards and hogs the feeder. They don't seem to do this with the feeder in the front. So I figure if I add another to the back, one bird can't be at both at the same time!

[DFW]

11. Last year I saw one on Cape Cod

We usually don't see them there, and at first, I thought it was a large flying insect. When it got closer, I remembered that insects don't have beaks.

[Arkansas Granny]

12. lol. Good observation!

[locks]

13. Have you seen

the Hummingbird-Hawk moth? Looks, drinks and hovers like a hummingbird though not as colorful. I've seen them a few times around my house and last year at the Denver Botanical Gardens during the Chihuly exhibit. Mom Nature is pretty amazing.

[Arkansas Granny]

14. I saw one a few years ago in my front flower bed. I thought at first it was a baby hummingbird, but

it's movements were a little different. It was amazing.

[antiquie]

15. Hummer currently building a nest on my clothesline.

The line is under my patio roof with several bunches of pins. She picked a group of five and cemented them together and is now working on the nest. Yesterday we had 40mph gusts and she sat on the line for a long time. She isn't bothered with our coming and going from the garden to the house. Been here 40 years with year-round hummers and this is the first time one hasn't been secretive in her nesting.

[Arkansas Granny]

16. She must feel safe.

[haele]

17. We just found a hummingbird nest across the carport in the neighbor's cypress row.

Momma put her nest right at eye level (about 5 1/2 ft up), and we've got a good view from the dining room and the kitchen. It looks pretty well established, even though it's only twice the size of the cypress "cones" on the 30 year old trees; probably around 2 - 2 1/2 in diameter.
I started getting buzzed two days ago, so that's when I think she laid her eggs. We didn't notice this last year, but we were having the carport awning replaced and in the middle of overall renovation, so she might have nested somewhere else.

Amelia wants to see the eggs, but that's not happening unless I can catch a time when Momma is away from her nest and I have my phone camera. We are not going near the nest until everyone is fledged and ready to fly if we can help it.

We're going to start making sugar cane syrup and putting up a couple of pole feeders tomorrow.

Between the crows nests in the palm across the street and the hummer's nest "hidden" in the cypress, we're going to have lots of baby birds around here in a month or so.

Haele

[Arkansas Granny]

21. A mockingbird nested in the bush outside my window two years in a row.

I would sneak out while momma bird was gone and use a mirror to check the nest for eggs and hatchlings. Last summer they nested in a crepe myrtle on the other side of the building. I love watching them.

[cwydro]

18. I love all birds.

Hummingbirds are beautiful.

I love the group name for them - a charm of hummingbirds.

[Arkansas Granny]

19. I didn't know that. Very fitting.

[cwydro]

20. It is.

And then there's a "murder of crows" lol.

A "kettle of eagles" in the sky, but a "convocation" if they're on the ground.