Last week I was talking with someone in their backyard and they already had their hummingbird feeder up, ad she informed me she puts it up super early because if it is not up early, the hummingbirds will never come. This has not been my experience- I’ve waited until June and then put it up and had hordes of the greedy little sucrose freaks buzzing around.
Regardless, when I was at the grocery the other day I bought some of the nectar that is supposed to be safe for them, but I never got around to putting it up. About ten minutes ago, I was outside on the porch brushing Tunch to provide bedding for the birds and comfort for the kitty, and a hummingbird flew over to my regular bird feeder (for the winter) where the hummingbird feeder normally is, saw there was no hummingbird crack, flew up to about two feet from my head, faced me, and then chirped as if to say “Where’s the food” before buzzing off.
I decided it was time to finally put the damned thing up, went to get it, and now I can not find it anywhere when I know it was right next to the washtub in the basement last week. So, I called my mom and asked if dad picked up the feeder, and she said “No, J.G., we did not take your hummingbird feeder, but it is funny you are calling because I am filling ours right now.”
Random.
Just Some Fuckhead
Check behind the mustard
Corner Stone
G D you JSF.
Violet
It’s with the mustard. Check with Tunch.
raven
It gets worse, take it from me. I remember shit from 50 years ago like it was yesterday but, when I swim at the Y, I can’t find my damn car after an hour!
Corner Stone
Ask the Colonel. Maybe he has it in the Library, along with the pipe.
raven
@Corner Stone: Bong.
cathyx
When she says ‘ours’, she means the one she took from you.
Calming Influence
Don’t buy the “nectar”, buy a bag of sugar. 1 part sugar to 4 parts water, bring to a boil, cool, and you’re golden.
Violet
We have plenty of hummingbirds here right now. I think they got really slammed by the late cold front and are hanging out until it warms up and they can continue north. I have a nifty window feeder that I just got this year and the birds finally found it today. Pretty cool to be at the kitchen sink with hummingbirds just on the other side of the window.
Villago Delenda Est
@Corner Stone:
[rimshot]
JPL
Plant a butterfly bush instead.
quannlace
Shit, John. First the condiments, now the bird feeder. You definitely have gremlins of some sort in the house.
Calming Influence
I’ve been buzzed to the point where I feel the breeze on my scalp. Hummers are super-aggressive, and are like dogs in that a dachshund has no fear of a great dane.
Redshirt
It’s the frat boys. You can snort that nectar shit I heard on the news.
quannlace
Tie a bow on your car antenna . That’s how I find mine at the mall.
raven
@quannlace: Good idea!
the Conster
The hummingbird exhibit at the Desert Museum in Tucson is the most fun I’ve ever had with a floral shirt on.
Omnes Omnibus
@Redshirt: Oh for fuck’s sake, you don’t snort it; you smoke it.
Mnemosyne
My parents had a hummingbird feeder in Arizona that the woodpeckers also liked to drink out of. The hummers would hover in front of the sliding door to the porch to get my parents to go out and chase the woodpeckers away.
Smart little birds.
SiubhanDuinne
WHERE IS GENERAL STUCK???
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Omnes Omnibus:
You smoke the stuff outta the bottle, but if it’s dried up in the feeder after months of no use, you scrape it out, add some mustard, heat in a teaspoon and inject.
ETA: It’s known as Golden Bird or Tweety.
raven
@the Conster: God I used to love going over Gates Pass to the museum and Old Tucson!
Litlebritdifrnt
No John the hummer did not say “where’s the food” the hummer chirped and said “hey hoomin I expect my feeders to be filled and hung in their usual spots by now cracker, now get on it mother fucker” trust me I speak HB.
Corner Stone
@SiubhanDuinne: Someone finally delivered his bendable, furry articulated purple ponicorn and he’s been politely indisposed ever since.
Omnes Omnibus
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): Good point.
raven
Call the Midwife up.
Heidi
The Nectar mix you buy dyes their tail feathers which interferes with mating. just use water and sugar. They’ll find it!
I’ve often thought that hummingbirds represent the perfect misunderstanding in nature. We approach the feeder and they fly up. We assume they’re saying Hi thanks for everything, they assume we’re trying to steal their food and come to chase us away.
We are both perfectly satisfied with the misunderstood transaction.
Punchy
Sucrose? Pretty sure that stuff is glucose.
Comrade Mary
Hey, John, I can’t find some forms I need for an insurance claim. Can you please take a look around your place?
Thanks!
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Dependent upon the grade of mustard used, Sylvesters (as Tweeety users are known) show varying degrees of memory loss and hallucination.
johnny aquitard
We has a hummingbird feeder for a couple of years. Finally moved it to the front of the house to better see them. Alas we also got the windows washed the week before, nice and crystal clear. And within a week we had a hummingbird run into the picture window. Broke its neck the poor thing.
That was the first time I got to examine one up close. They’re beautiful birds, tiny, exquisite, perfect. Like jewels.
I taped up some of the kids art work on the window on the inside so the birds would know it wasnt a hole they could fly through.
Also, yeah SiubhanDuinne, where is Stuck? He’s been gone for a while now. Hope he’s ok.
Keith
Not to mention you also forgot to put up a GoT thread. Little action last week, but tremendous acting, from the pain on Stannis’ face when he talked to Shireen to Jaime/Brienne’s scene (I really felt for the Kingslayer when he said, “My…name…is…Jaime.”
PS: Check out the SNL Game of Game of Thrones this week on Hulu. Real funny…the spiritual successor to William Shatner’s “Get a life!” skit.
Narcissus
Of course your parents took it. They’re just screwing with you. They probably enjoyed that mustard, too.
Corner Stone
@Calming Influence:
After all this time, you actually trust Cole to safely boil water? And shit, adding sugar I can easily see a caramel Cole statue forming in the WV household after the inevitable accident.
Corner Stone
@Calming Influence:
What I wouldn’t give at this point…
Roger Moore
@raven:
There’s an app for that.
Comrade Mary
@Keith: The final scene where she’s cradling him in the tub had me thinking someone may have been deliberately referencing this and maybe a tiny bit of this.
Comrade Mary
(I think this drawing shows an even stronger resemblance.)
Corner Stone
@Narcissus:
Can you imagine the sheer joy his mom will have one day when she’s not doing so well and calls him close to her bedside and whispers, “JG…the mustard…it was me. BWAH HAHAHAHA!”
“That’s what you get for being such a shit the first 30 years of your miserable fucking life!!”
pat
Do NOT waste money on this “nectar.” Four parts water to one part sugar. First microwave the water until it boils. Do not put the sugar in first, or it will boil over. Add sugar to the hot water, stir until it dissolves, let cool. Store in the refrigerator if you make extra. Rinse and refill the feeders every few days.
I moved the feeder after the first year and had at least one hummer buzzing around the original spot, looking for the damn feeder that he KNEW it was here last year!!
I’ve also had a Downy Woodpecker sticking a very long tongue into the feeder. I have the pics!
dewzke
When I lived in Texas (for a brief time) I had dinner with my aunt a few times and the hummingbirds would only buzz me (no one else, they thought is was funny)…i had to go inside. fast and scary less than an inch from your head.
Comrade Mary
For the love of Cole, DON’T give him the chance to experience superheated water up close and personal.
To boil water for syrup, just put it in a pot on the damn stove. Better yet, join the civilized world and boil water in an electric kettle.
pat
@Comrade Mary:
OK, I admit one has to be a bit careful microwaving water that doesn’t have any… what do they call those things that the bubbles form on? Maybe it is better to use the stove in that case.
Cole has been able to boil water, right….??
pat
Will not attempt to edit, but have to admit that an electric kettle is probably the best choice. I use mine every day for the tea.
Ms. D. Ranged in AZ
@Comrade Mary: I don’t see the sybil similarity other than it being a strong looking female. However, Michelangelo frequently used male models for his female figures. Plus the Sybil is holding a book, not a person. Now the Pieta, yes, I can see that. At a minimum it was subconscious projection of that image because the scene is precisely that, Brienne taking pity on Jaime.
I’m counting the minutes until GOT tonight! Unfortunately, I won’t see it until about two hours after the East Coast and have to stay away from GOT sites because I don’t want to run into any episode spoilers.
jeffreyw
Dem boids!
Calming Influence
@Corner Stone: Two good points. Maybe getting John thinking about hummers will distract him from attempting to boil water.
jnfr
When I lived up in the canyon and I kept a feeder out all the time and I’m quite sure the birds got used to it.
They’d show up early and hang outside my window until I filled it. And if it went empty they’d stare into the window until I came out and filled it.
Birds are smarter than you think. They used to be dinosaurs, you know.
@raven:
Bless you both. I lived in Tucson for a decade and it was the most bird fun I’ve had anywhere.
pat
@efgoldman:
By Ladder Back, do you mean Hairy Woodpecker? I also have all three (got a Pileated once…) My woodpeckers are the best at working the upside-down suet feeders.
pat
@jeffreyw:
OMG, where is that? Are they all Ruby Throats? I couldn’t get a good luck at them.
pat
@efgoldman:
Umm, how old is that book?
jeffreyw
@pat: Yes, all we get here are Ruby Throats.
Omnes Omnibus
@pat: Audubon died in 1851, if that helps.
Kristine
@jeffreyw: That’s amazing. I have never seen more than 2-3 at a time in my yard, and when I set up a nectar feeder, they never went near it. My crew wants flowers, dammit.
Calming Influence
I was out in the yard Thurs or Fri afternoon, and suddenly heard TOKTOKTOKTOKTOKTOKTOKTOK… Sounded like automatic weapons fire above my head. It was a Pileated and he was pounding on one of our hollow wooden bat houses about 20 feet up the trunk of a doug fir. He did it for about a minute – I think he was really enjoying the volume he was getting out of it!
NotMax
Short-term memory is the first to…
…(um, what was I saying?)
jeffreyw
@Kristine: We’ve been hanging nectar feeders for going on 30 years. It takes a while to build a flock.
Ms. D. Ranged in AZ
@Calming Influence:
I’m guessing getting John thinking about hummers might actually distract him while boiling water and that, as we know so well, could be a dangerous thing. ;)
Omnes Omnibus
@Calming Influence: My brother had one that went at the metal gutters on his house at about 6am on weekends.
Sean
Lenny and Carl just held hands on “the Simpson’s.”. Gay Amurica has truly arrived, people.
Calming Influence
@Omnes Omnibus: And efgoldman’s got a signed copy…
pat
@efgoldman:
OK, I have to investigate this. According to the first couple of books I’ve looked at, the Ladder Backed woodpecker is found in Mexico and southern Texas and Arizona. I would be curious what book you are using. If it does not have a RANGE MAP next to the pictures, I advise you to invest in a better book. ;-)
jeffreyw
Eyeball to eyeball
Calming Influence
@Omnes Omnibus:
“Pass me the dadgum shotgun, Lurleen; Woody’s ’bout to meet his maker!”
SiubhanDuinne
@Corner Stone:
I don’t even know what that means.
I hope.
Calming Influence
@jeffreyw: Holy crap, you take a hell of a picture! Those are awesome!
2liberal
@quannlace:
i used to have one of those trunk mounted bike racks. I never actually used it but it really helped finding the car.
Calming Influence
@jeffreyw:
That’s not a flock, it’s an invasion. Hitchcock would have shit his pants.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: I found his flickr page but there are no recent pictures. http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxpecker
jeffreyw
@Calming Influence: Gen Stuck is the master. I kneel at his feet.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
Those are wonderful photos. Well, let’s hope Charlie is keeping him on the straight and narrow and that he’ll be back posting before long.
Thanks for the link.
Comrade Jake
Cole: I suggest you begin to self medicate. You seem to think better after a couple of drinks.
Roger Moore
@Punchy:
I doubt it. Glucose is more expensive and not a particularly good imitation of nectar. If they’re going to use anything but sucrose, they’re most likely to use invert sugar, i.e. sucrose that has been partially hydrolyzed into glucose and fructose. Invert sugar is both cheaper and a better nectar imitation than pure glucose.
SIA
@JPL: @SiubhanDuinne: I’ve occasionally visited Stuck’s website and he always leaves a comment back. There are 3 of us who left comments a while back and I’ve checked a few times but no word. I also emailed him on his Flikr email and didn’t hear anything. I’m worried about him and truly hope he’s OK and Charlie too. I like Stuck very much and its weird to just have him disappear. :(
Roger Moore
@pat:
This is terrible advice. Add hot water to the sugar, not the other way around. It’s easy to superheat water, especially in the microwave. Adding sugar, or pretty much any rough substance, to superheated water will cause it to boil violently. It’s much safer to add the water to the sugar.
Mj_Oregon
From the Hummingbird.net website:
I never boil the water, just use warm water from your sink. One cup water and 1/4 cup sugar (I use cane sugar because beet sugar is invariably made from GMO sugar beets) makes just enough to fill the eight ounce Perky Pet feeder. Make sure you keep the feeders super clean!
John Weiss
@Heidi: Hummers would gladly eat you if they were large enough. Damned tiny dinosaurs!
Maude
@Mj_Oregon:
You are right about cleaning the feeders. I don’t have hummers around and I had forgotten about that.
Maude
@Roger Moore:
#77
The last thing we need is that with John.
ETA I think the hummer was saying to John, is that a cat in your lap or are you glad to see me?
MattR
While you are looking for the feeder, can you keep an eye out for the screws to my shleving unit. When I took the thing apart I was very careful to keep them all together and made sure to put them “somewhere safe that I would be able to find them later”. Too bad that now I have no clue where that is.
@Roger Moore: Or just put a wooden stick in the water as you are heating it in the microwave. That breaks the surface tension and let’s the water boil rather than becoming superheated.
hamletta
We have doves at the church. I was thrilled to see them come back after the winter.
Last year, they built a nest and hatched babies in the climbing plant around our portico.
They’re such sweet little birds. Unlike the mockingbird who regularly dive-bombs our sexton.
TaMara (BHF)
@jeffreyw:
@Calming Influence: I LOVE those photos and I’ve used them on the masthead a couple of times. He does take great shots, doesn’t he?
pat
@Roger Moore:
Yeah, yeah. I add the sugar slooowly and have not had a problem, but that is probably good advice for the unwary.
CaseyL
I would love to put up a hummingbird feeder – we definitely have at least one HB hanging around my townhouse complex.
Unfortunately, my kitties would probably also love it if I put up a hummingbird feeder. Oscar, particularly, would think it was some marvelous new snack bar… for him.
ETA: jeffreyw, that is an amazing photo. You really should enter it into a contest.
Maude
@MattR:
I can’t tell you how many times I have put something in a safe place and couldn’t find it right away.
You’ll find them. Just imagine what they look like and then don’t think about it.
SiubhanDuinne
@SIA:
I like him too, and am also somewhat worried. Hope he’s just giving himself a bit of vacation. Stuck, if you’re lurking, that’s fine, but please just let us know you’re okay.
And SIA, good to see you, too! You and I don’t often post at the same time these days. Hope you are thriving.
NobodySpecial
Stuck probably saw Cole roast Burnsie, had flashbacks, and went on another vacation. You’ll see him next month.
tofubo
you “think” you are “losing it” ??
you’re way past that, and for that, we love you
Suzanne
@raven: I lived off of First Avenue just south of the Rillito River for a couple of years. In my apartment complex, I would routinely see Gila monsters, Gambel’s quails, all sorts of snakes, and wrens. It was awesome (and a bit terrifying when my cat would escape). I’m up in Phoenix now, and we see cranes and herons and coots at the lake by our house all the time.
And about an hour ago, I had ducks fucking on my lawn. A threesome. Kinky bastards.
trollhattan
Two bird stories from the week.
Standing outside the house today, fiddling with my bike before heading out for a ride, the local starlings were raising a fuss, squeaking and swooping and ZOOM, a hawk whooshes past about four feet overhead, then climbs as it crosses the street to land fifty feet up in a neighbor’s tree, the starlings in pursuit. Startled the bejeezus out of me.
Getting ready to head for work last Wednesday, I had let the dog out back and was puttering when I heard persistent squeaking in the house. Dining room? Nope. Kitchen? Nope. Utility room, holy crap, there’s a hummingbird in here! She (Annas) was darting around trying to find a way out. I grabbed a towel to hopefully catch her in, but she started boinging off the room’s sole window (hint-hint) and I forced it open for the first time in half a year and luckily, got her back outside at same moment the dog sauntered in and gave me the “hey, WTF are you doing now, two-legs?” look. Thank bog, because if the bird and dog were inside the same time, I’d have a giant insurance claim and the Worst Homeowner’s Damage Story Evah.
PurpleGirl
@MattR: Isn’t that always the case… put something some place to keep them safe and you can’t remember where the safe place is. (Currently trying to remember where I put the pictures of Hugo and Rowdy (Doberman and his cat).
trollhattan
@Suzanne:
Niall Ferguson on line 3,
wanting to knowdemanding they all be hens, for some reason. Something about saving the economy for Herr Romney.Quack
Mark B
So, you are beginning to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, aren’t you Cole? They took the feeder and your mustard and now even the hummingbirds are taunting you. Try this: Place the mustard on the counter and walk away but try to watch it out of the corner of your eye as you walk away. DON’T LOOK DIRECTLY AT IT!!!
Do you see them? The shadows? They are just behind you. They are becoming stronger. Now they need a few more things. A coil of baling wire. Some graham crackers. And a sock monkey. Made from a real sock. When they have these things, they will be able to step out of the shadows. And then ….[message ends abruptlt]
Judybird
Correct, don’t wast your money on the crap pet stores sell as nectar. 1/4 cup sugar to 1 cup water, dissolve, dispense, enjoy.
S. Holland
@SiubhanDuinne: Truly worried now
trollhattan
@Mark B:
Am beginning to think he lives in the House of Leaves. If the inside dimensions exceed the outside dimensions….
joel hanes
@pat:
got a Pileated once…
Envy!
I’ve only seen a pileated twice, both times high in bare oak trees; never up close.
I sure hope the Ivory-bill still remains somewhere.
darkmatter
Speaking of hummingbirds: .
And yes, this is a podcast about videogames. Most of the time.
Mark B
@trollhattan: I was kind of going for a Doctor Who vibe, but I got lazy since its a pain in the ass to type upon the iPad.
dopealope
In case you’re looking for a netflix recommendation, try an Australian film titled “The Castle”. It was wonderful …
MattR
@Maude: @PurpleGirl: The shelving unit was for my DVD’s and CD’s so I am guessing I put the screws in one of the boxes containing those DVD’s. (That is really the only option left since I have already checked all the other possibilities) But of course those are buried at the bottom of my storage unit so it is gonna take some work to get to them. I don’t understand why I didn’t just tape the bag of screws to one of the shelves. It’ll end up coming to me during the week while my brain tries to avoid actually doing the work in front of it (or I will have a dream where I find them). The subconscious is a pretty cool thing.
Southern Beale
I worked on a hummingbird project years ago at an environmental education center, and was shocked to learn that because of climate change, some hummingbirds are wintering over in the mid-South now. They’re now recommending you keep your feeders up all year because of that.
SIA
@SiubhanDuinne: hi SD, good to hear from you. I don’t comment much lately and for a while after the gun vote failed I completely tuned out the news even BJ. I’m so frustrated with the GOP obstruction and lunacy I just had to get away from it. Hopefully that’s what Stuck is doing too. Hope all is well with you!
trollhattan
@Southern Beale:
We seem to have a few hang around in California’s central valley throughout winter. Yeah, things are changing (birder’s logbooks are a great resource).
Hill Dweller
If this has been covered, apologies. It looks like there is ample evidence the rebels were the ones using chemical weapons in Syria.
If it turns out to be true, I hope the President hammers some of the hacks in the Beltway for ridiculing his concerns about chain of custody.
Mike G
In the latest news from America’s Bangladesh, the West, Texas fertilizer plant carried only $1 million in liability insurance.
So the dozen people in my cul-de-sac carry more liability insurance for driving our cars than these assholes did for storing hundreds of tons of explosives.
“It’s rare for Texas to require insurance for any kind of hazardous activity,” [plaintiff lawyer Randy Roberts] said. “We have very little oversight of hazardous activities and even less regulation.”
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/atty-texas-plant-blew-carried-1m-policy
Low tax, low regulation, Republican corporate paradise, YEEEEHHHAAAWWWWW!!!
CaseyL
Went to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge today. It has trails through freshwater wetlands, and a wonderful 1.5 mile boardwalk through a large saltwater estuary.
We saw many, many blue herons (who I suspect are on the park’s payroll, because they kept striking poses whenever they saw a camera), redwing blackbirds, lots of swallows, shoveler ducks, morganser ducks, generic ducks (we couldn’t see their plumage well enough to identify them), a few Canada Goose families (one with 8 adorable goslings).
One gorgeous little swallow who puzzled us because it was bright blue in color – what kind of swallow is bright blue? But the blue look was apparently caused by the angle of sunlight bouncing off its feathers; we didn’t realize it wasn’t actually blue until we walked past the tree it was perched on and looked back at it…
and the piece de resistance: a bald eagle family, with Dad high up on a branch standing guard while Mom fed the kids down in the (enormous) nest.
The Nisqually is a great place to watch birds, even if you’re not a birder. Which I’m not; if I were, I’d be able to spot and identify more of them.
Comrade Mary
@Ms. D. Ranged in AZ: What jumped out at me was the hair and the profile, right down to the shape of Brienne’s nose. The body position isn’t quite right, but her face is very reminiscent of the Sibyl.
trollhattan
@Mike G:
I, for one, can’t wait until Rih Perry’s next trip to California on accounta bidnez reekruetment. Should be a golden moment for all.
Corner Stone
@NobodySpecial: Shoot. That was the best day of his life.
Corner Stone
@jnfr:
My dad lives just south of Tucson and a couple years ago we went to a canyon by his house and had a picnic.
The most amazing bird activity and variety. Really a lot of fun for me and my son who was probably 5 or so at the time. Mexican Blue Jays, 2 or 3 versions of woodpeckers, a bunch of others I don’t know as I’m not a birder.
Just a fun day.
askew
@Hill Dweller:
I hope this means that Leahy was wrong about Obama being close to arm Syrian rebels. That is a disaster waiting to happen. Those arms will end up in the wrong hands.
I also hope the left media stops comparing this to Clinton not doing anything in Rwanda. Situations are completely different.
askew
Interesting article on Obama’s environmental record. I wasn’t aware that the Obama admin and others had been this successful on reducing carbon emissions:
Starlit
@CaseyL: Wow, thanks for the tip.
And, John, you can make sugar water at home–without the coloring–sometimes the manufacturers of nectar get clever and put stuff in the food.
Boil water. Add sugar (think the proportion is 4:1). Let cool. Put in red thingy.
Or you can be real lazy, like me, and just plant put any/all in a container or the ground if you’ve got ground: crocosmia, red hot pokers, lobelia, penstemon, salvia, or hyssop. Food problem solved.
Mnemosyne
@CaseyL:
My kitties are indoor-only, so I’m hoping to find a plant I can put on the patio that will attract hummingbirds that they can watch through the window. It’ll be like cable TV for them.
NotMax
Impish frat boys having a scavenger hunt?
MikeJ
@askew:
Unpossible. He threw us under the low emissions bus.
Redshift
@joel hanes: We had a pair of pileateds living in a tree in our yard (in the suburbs) one year when I was a teenager. They were huge and spectacular and loud. It was great.
Yutsano
@MikeJ: Obama can never have any success. Ever. And if he does have any success somehow he is not responsible for it.
Redshirt
I got a Pileated once. Took near three weeks of antibiotics to clear it up!
Roger Moore
@Southern Beale:
I’d heard something similar, but without claiming global warming as the cause. The sources I’ve read suggest that it’s actually the feeders that are doing it. Hummingbirds can handle cold weather just fine, but only as long as they have a reliable source of food. Since they mostly eat nectar and insects, they had to migrate away from areas that don’t have flowers and active insects during the winter. People putting up feeders provide enough nutrition to keep them going through the winter, so they’ve expanded their winter range.
Roger Moore
@Mnemosyne:
I call my feeder the feline entertainment unit. Jake has a special meow that’s reserved for watching prey animals that are out of reach. It’s usually for hummingbirds at the feeder, but he’ll occasionally use it for bugs that have flown up to the ceiling.
ruviana
@Mnemosyne: When I lived in an apartment my kitteh sat on one of the chairs watching birds constantly. One day a hummer came and hung just at her eye-level while chirping and tweeting at her. She went crazy and the hummer just kept doing it. Funniest. Thing. Ever.
catclub
@pat: nucleation sites
Redshirt
Praise be! 24 hours of fasting over, time to eat!
Yutsano
@Redshirt: WOOT!! Any restriction on the fast break meal?
Redshirt
Weird! I can’t reply to Yutsano either. Comment just disappears.
You are the Singularity!
No restrictions. Got everything warming up right now.
Also: You never appreciate something until you go without it for a while. Food is divine!
Violet
@Redshirt: Why were you fasting?
Redshirt
@Violet: To suffer. Really. I’ve been doing it twice a year for 14 years now. It doesn’t seem to get easier.
I marvel at the show “Survivorman” when he’d be out in the Sahara or somewhere with no food for 7 days. I can barely move by the end of my 24 hours, and he’s out there sleeping on the ground filming a show.
Yutsano
@Redshirt: I am teh feeder of teh Tunch. Or something.
You really shouldn’t go too nuts with your meal, but a little indulgence is all right.
Violet
@Redshirt: Interesting. I’ve just started fasting off and on for health reasons. I don’t find it too hard. Do you maybe have blood sugar issues that make it harder?
Redshirt
@Violet: I’ve never known myself to have issues, but maybe that precisely explains the crushing headaches I get about 18 hours in. They’re near debilitating.
Felonius Monk
That’s it — that’s the key. Find that MUSTARD and you will find everything else that is missing from your life (well, almost everything.
And everyone, please stop blaming Tunch. He’s innocent, I tell you. He’s innocent.
Thymezone
1. Been putting up the feeders for many years.
2. Never put one up yet that wasn’t being used by a hummingbird within 15 minutes.
The end.
Slim Shady
Sorry if it was mentioned in another of these 137 posts, but don’t buy that crap branded as hummingbird nectar. Sugar and Water, period. Bring it to a quick boil and let it cool. You’re done, and it’s alot cheaper in the long run. It’s been a few years since I had to make a divorce forced move out of the country, so I can’t remember the proportions anymore, might’ve been 1 part sugar to 5 parts water.
marge
I have several feeders up. It is fun watching them buzz around and around the house to protect all the feeders. I was always told to put them up april 15th. And sure enough, as soon as they are up I get hummers. The males show up first, then the females. At this point they go through about a quart of sugar water (no store bought nectar for my birds) every two weeks. Once the babies are hatched it becomes a feeding frenzy and I can hardly keep up. Then they will go through at least a quart a week.
Right now there are 4 little baby blue birds in my bluebird house. All you have to do is provide a home to get these lovely birds. Mr Bluebird is the prettiest guy in the neighborhood in mho.
Emily
@Calming Influence: Yes. Use sugar instead of “nectar” Way cheaper.
In Seattle, we’ve got Anna’s hummers here all year long. I have read that they were able to expand their range because people started to feed them in the winter. The only problem is to keep the sugar-water liquid during the rare freeze. You have to get up early and swap out the feeders frequently.
pat
Hummers make the most amazing migration. They fly non-stop over the Gulf of Mexico, I forget how long exactly, but they fly through the night. Have to really stock up on nectar before they leave.
luzeelu
Good idea to avoid the microwave. Just boil 4 cups of water on the stove and pour it into a container with one cup of sugar. Stir well, allow to cool and proceed to fill the feeder. I make 4 cups at a time using a covered measuring cup. At this point in the season, I put one cup or less into two feeders and refrigerate the rest until it’s time to rinse the feeder and add fresh sugar water, every 5 or 6 days. My hummers aren’t eating a lot just yet.
My feeders go out on April 15 each year and the hummers show up that day or shortly thereafter.
Roxy
I have a humming bird feeder up all year around. Sugar and water is all that is needed for the little beauties. Where I live we have permanent and migatory hummingbirds.
We also have a homemade birdbath. Every year early spring and early fall, we get robins that stop over for a couple of weeks. They love the bird bath. There have been times we will get up to 10 trying to get into the bird bath. Then they move on. Right now it’s has been pretty quiet at the bird bath. I have also seen a red shouldered hawk taking a bath.
Our back yard also gets raccoons, opossums and every few weeks a skunk will meander through. I just call our place City of the Wild Kingdom.
dabba
We always have hummingbirds in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In the winter I usually have 2 or 3 feeders out, this time of year I bump it up to 5 since the population increases so much. I’ve seen as many as 4 on the same feeder at certain times of the late spring and summer, when we’ll go through 4 cups of sugar water every couple of days.
I don’t boil the water, but I do clean the feeders thoroughly every time I fill them, with hot soapy water and a little bleach. They can build up bacteria pretty quickly when it’s hot.
Roxy
@dabba:
Hi dabba,
I live in northern San Mateo County