Hummingbirds, Part II

Good Sunday Morning!

This is a follow up post on Hummingbirds. I posted earlier this summer on these wonderful creatures and asked a question of my readership. Why do hummers visit my feeder more during and right after, rain storms? Well, no one claimed to have an answer. So, I did some reading and research myself. I found a great segment on the PBS Show, the Wisconsin Gardener on hummingbirds. The person being interviewed gave a great explanation. She stated that when there is heavy rain, (of which we have had a lot of this summer in Wisconsin), the nectar in the flowers becomes diluted. She also stated that on very hot days, nectar production is decreased or even stops in some flowers! So, considering the hot, wet summer we have had; no wonder I have noticed an increase in hummers at my feeder! And the dilution of the nectar makes sense; these tiny, highly active birds intuitively seek a food source (the feeder) that will provide them with the sugar content (or energy source) they need. Diluted flower nectar just won't cut it!

Did you also know that it is a myth that you have to take your hummingbird feeder down when the weather starts to cool? Hummingbird migration is based on length of day, not whether or not you still have your feeder up! These tiny creatures will know when it is time to skip town, no matter what you do with your feeder! In fact, the woman in the PBS hummingbird segment suggests leaving the feeders up late into the fall, so as to provide a food source to any late migrants. I'll be doing that this year.

I make my own nectar for my feeder. The recipe is Hot Water and Sugar in a ratio of 4 cups water to one cup sugar. Make sure you wait for it to cool before filling the feeder and putting it out. You also need to keep it clean!

Hummers are still visiting my feeder frequently on a daily basis. My cats continue to be very interested in these visitors. One of my felines will pounce at the feeder when a hummer approaches or is feeding. My other cat simply watches these colorful, busy, almost nervous appearing birds. The pictures I posted are of the "watching cat".

Lastly, I'll leave you with the link to the Wisconsin Gardener segment. Enjoy!

http://video.wpt2.org/video/1499626354

Scenes from the West....just amazing!

Before I get to my main post today, I want to know if anyone knows why hummingbirds eat more after it has rained? We have a "hummer" (as we lovingly call them) feeder attached to our kitchen window over our deck. We have daily visits from these wonderful and amazing creatures.

Our weather has been notably rainy this year (not cold, mind you, just rainy) and as a result everything in our yard that is usually burned out (like our lawn) or dead (like my container flowers) are flourishing! However, the rainy weather has led to an interesting observation with regards to our hummingbird visitors.

It seems that during a rain storm or after it rains, we have a dramatic increase in visits to our hummingbird feeder. In fact, yesterday, the hummers almost drained the thing! This voracious appetite followed what was a terrible thunderstorm, for most of the night before, accompanied by very heavy rainfall.

We have been back from our vacation for a week and I'll have filled the hummingbird feeder twice, already! While this might not seem like a lot for some, it is a definite increase for our feeder. In fact, yesterday, we had hummers "dueling" it out for drinking spots! This has never happened before! They are very territorial creatures and I am sure one hummer felt this was his own personal, nutritional oasis!

So, I am back to my question.......Why does it seem that hummingbirds visit our feeders more during periods of rainy weather? If anyone knows the answer to this, I'd love to hear it!

As I stated, we have been back from our Western Trip for sometime now. I wrote, last week, about the wonderful experience we had hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We arrived in Colorado via South Dakota and a visit to the Badlands, Custer State Park, and Mount Rushmore. All I can say is, amazing!

It is amazing that a group of men carved the faces of our country's great leaders into the side of a granite mountain! It is amazing how beautiful it is! The day we visited, there wasn't a cloud in the sky! It is amazing that we learned no one was killed during the carving of this beautiful and awe-inspiring monument! Amazing!

The Badlands! Amazing in their unique topography! Arising from the vast, flat openness of the prairie, the badlands are so amazingly odd in their appearance they are almost scary! You definitely get a sense of being in the old west and can almost picture the expression as explorers and cowpokes road across our prairies and came across this landscape! Amazing!

Custer State Park is amazing, too! It offers a lovely scenic drive through pine studded forests. And if you are a self-proclaimed conservationist/naturalist, like myself, you will be glad that places like Custer still exist. Cool, vibrantly green, and refreshing to the spirit! Amazing!

I have to add another amazing observation, here. We were amazingly disappointed that the Crazy Horse monument has not made more progress in the last 50 years! It will be quite a feat to finish this fine monument to one of our native americans, but it would have been nice to see some people working on it. Amazingly, very quiet, for the amount of work that still needs to take place. Amazing!

I will post some more of my photographs later today of these Amazing places out West. Please stop back to view those. In the meantime, can you answer my hummingbird question?

Have a great week! Carol