BS: I just LOVE hummers!

Subject: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 12:15 PM

And they like ZZ Top! and old Irish Trad songs...

Yesterday afternoon, after I watered the baskets of mostly mini-petunias hung on the eave of the garage and the potted flowers along the edge of the patio, I sat on Mum's patio double glider-rocker. It's about 2.5m from the post upon which are hung two Hummingbird feeders. I lit a smoke and relaxed after a long and gruelling week.

After about ten minutes, I began to whistle a ZZ Top tune named "Girl In A Tee Shirt" or sommat like that. Buddy, the Ruby Throated Hummingbird that is lord and master of the apple tree next to the post... well, of the whole backyard, really... zoomed out of the tree and perched on the clothesline about 2m from me and was enraptured (or pissed, perhaps). I kept whistling. He chirped and chirped. I imagined that he did so because he couldn't clap (or didn't have anything to throw at me).

Unfortunately, the concert was abruptly interrupted when another male Hbird swooped down and started to feed at one of the feeders. Now, if you have never seen these guys scrap, no written description can do any justice to the amazing display of aerial acrobatics. Imagine a couple of 50mm tall helicopters that can go from hovering face to face 1m apart to a km per sec in a tenth of a second.

When the intruder had enough with having the boots put to him, Buddy had a long and well deserved suck on the feeder, which dispenses a mixture of white granulated sugar and water, and alit just within the apple tree to prune his dishevelled feathers. And, I began to sing, softly, The Parting Glass. We put Bro's ashes in the ground yesterday and my cousin and I sang one verse of that song before the covering. So, it was in my head. Well, sir, buddy was right back on the wire… best audience I ever had! Heeheheheheeee!

I watched him, the wife and two younguns flit around for an hour… with me singing and whistling all the while. I just LOVE Hummers!

PLEASE tell me about Hummers you have enjoyed.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: catspaw49
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 12:19 PM

Geeziz gnu.........I'll tell a story as soon as I can quit crying.

That may be the best post you ever made...........


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 12:20 PM

I have a friend in Worcestershire who drives a hummer... he just loves his Hummer too.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 12:21 PM

Oops... sorry... I said they could fly a km per second. Of course, no way! The feathers would blow right off em. I belive the definitive speed I was searching for is "WTF was that??!!"

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 12:24 PM

I made you cry, Spaw? Gee whiz, golly gosh. I guess there's nothing left for me to do. Except build more humming space.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: topical tom
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 12:49 PM

I used to put up hummingbird feeders and loved to see the colourful flitterers hover in the air.The courtship dance is something to behold!The female sits on a nearby perch while the male hummer describes huge arcs in the air swooping up and down, up and down.One day I noticed ants in the sugar solution so I suspended the feeder so that no ant could reach it(or so I thought!).They were flying ants!I took all feeders down and now watch the hummers suck nectar from the flowers about the house.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 12:50 PM

They are such fearless, sensible little birds. Once one (we have only ruby-throats here in southeast Alaska) got trapped in my sun porch on a hot-for-us day. He tried to find a way out but instead got into the more distant section. I didn't want to chase him for fear it would exhaust him further so after a bit of cogitation I held up a broom with the bristles toward him and let him climb on.

Then I took him to the coolness of the outdoors and flattened my palm so he could leave. Instead he sat there for a few minutes, regarding me with his bright eyes, seeming totally unafraid. When he lifted off and zoomed into the nearby trees I felt like applauding.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 01:06 PM

a local woman in my area has written a book about humming birds
and in it there are several pix of her with the little critters
perched on her finger....i have had some close encounters with
rubies...and they are very bright when they flash their feathers.

in my area right now there are very few things with any color at
all--the blackened trees and ashen ground are drab and stark. I
would so welcome a flash of color...i have seen woodpeckers...and
they have a red patch. but it is not the same.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Peace
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 01:14 PM

Met one near Mount Edith Cavell about 20 years ago. It is bear country--both black and grizzly--so I was having a look around to be cautious. Entered a meadow and this little guy came zooming up, hovered about five inches from my nose and gave me a once over. Then a twice over. He stayed about 12-15 seconds and then pulled the 'WTF was that'. It was a brief moment in the scale of things but it impressed me so much. I have laways loved seeing thos little guys.

Gnu, Spaw ain't the only one you got in tears. It is a beautifully-written piece of your heart on the page.

Bruce

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 01:16 PM

tt... no need. The hummers don't mind bugs.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 01:19 PM

Ebbie! Applause for you!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 01:32 PM

Peace... minds me of Cheucie... a female black and white cat of large stature that was a true lady. She listened to me like a Lab.

One day, a young hummer was at the flowers along the walkway of the house. It spied Cheucie, sprawled in the heat. It came over, hovered in front of her at 150mm and looked her over. She never tried to smack it. It was there for over a minute, up, down... she just watched it.

A camcorder moment.

On accounta she was as quick as a cat and coulda took a swipe.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 03:18 PM

One of my brothers once found a hummingbird nest. He described it as deep and about as big around as the ball of my thumb.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 03:28 PM

Nest.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: pdq
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 03:30 PM

Wednesday I installed a couple of brand new tail lights on my '88 Dodge pick-em-up truck. The next day I was doing yardwork and a hummingbird came up to one, looked carefully at the bright red plastic and spent about 10-15 seconds probing creases and screw holes for nectar. That never happened with the old tail lights.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 03:32 PM

You can pickup chicks with a Dodge? Sweet.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 04:41 PM

Apparently, they love my snoring too. Just called me mum. She said she watched several from her kitchen window while suppering and doing dishes. I was outside on hummer watch with the camcorder for the last hour.... good snooze.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Lox
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 06:15 PM

If you whistle backwards which way do they fly?

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Don Firth
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 06:43 PM

The first time I ever saw a humming bird, I was about five or six years old. I saw it at a distance, but the way it was moving (sort of hovering and darting) and the buzz of it's fast-moving wings, I thought it was some kind of huge bee!

Scared the hell out of me!

I dashed inside and slammed the screen door and my mother asked me what was wrong. As I complained incoherently, she looked out the door and said, "Oh, that's just a little humming bird. That won't hurt you."

I'd never heard of a humming bird before. I watched the way it was moving from flower to flower, just like a bee, and I wasn't gonna buy that for a minute!

Don Firth

P. S. Someone has to do this, so

Why do humming birds hum?

(Okay, all together now. . . .)

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: SINSULL
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 07:15 PM

A few years back when Kendall was fighting what seemed a hopeless battle against cancer, he and I were driving in South Portland. I told him I would do anything to make him laugh. As we passed a Hummer Dealership, I said "I will even buy you a Hummer." With a sly grin and the dimples he grinned at me...and I blushed.
He can still make me blush.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Rapparee
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 10:22 PM

Couple of evenings ago we were sitting on the back deck, talking and laughing at the golfers, when a hummingbird came right up to my wife and hovered in front of her face. It then hovered all around her head and then took off for parts unknown to us. She'd never had a hummingbird that up close and personal before, and it was really, really, something to watch. I told her that it was because she was so sweet, but she still won't let me have a pony.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: frogprince
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 10:39 PM

I've only seen them a couple of times that I can think of. Once on Martha's Vineyard, around the flowers at the edge of the porch where we were staying. Once on Manitoulin Island, where a little cafe had a feeder at the corner of the front window. Delightful wee beasties, for sure, and some sweet posts.   

I held off opening this thread for a few moments, toying with the question of which of at least three meanings it could have. I was almost ready to bet that Liz the Squeak had started it (with the purest of intentions of course).

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 10:51 PM

I only see hummingbirds occasionally, living in the city as I do.

However, I have a story similar to gnu's in one way - birds do pay attention to our music. One summer day, four of us were on the front porch, just socializing. I was strumming my guitar, and an American robin perched on the telephone wire nearby and sang and sang while I played.

I'm convinced he either saw the guitar as competition or he just liked it. Anyway, he sang as long as I played, and the singing was extra fancy, not just a mere 'cheer-up'.

I played all the chords I know (20 of them) and every chord seemed to harmonize with the robin's song. That shows how complex was his song.

For those of you in Europe, an American robin is a blackbird in a gray suit and rusty vest. It is quite different from a European robin.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: jeffp
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 12:13 AM

Back in the early 80s, I was in a restaurant in Vail, Colorado. The glass door to the outside deck was open, with waitresses going in and out with food. A hummingbird flew in to the dining room and stopped in a hover. The place fell silent as he looked left, then right. Then he backed up a little and turned around and left the way he had come. Everybody in the room looked around at each other, smiled, and went back to their meals.

A magical moment.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: topical tom
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 12:50 AM

I realize that this is not a music thread but I can't help but post the lyrics to what is ,to me ,a great song, "Hummingbird Heart":

   http://www.completealbumlyrics.com/lyric/38536/Frankie+Laine+-+Hummingbird.html

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 05:53 AM

magic! we don't have anything like hummingbirds here, the closest I've come to them was stories from my sister when she lived in California nearly 20 years ago.

more hummingbird stories, please.

sandra

my closest nature experience was some years back when I spent about 10 minutes (still & silent) in the Nocturnal House of a local wildlife park, that something with big eyes walked close to the glass & looked up at me. I think it was a Tawny Frogmouth
day & night pics of Tawny Frogmouths

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 07:54 AM

I have a lovely maple tree in my own backyard and a line of pine trees extends along the back edge of my lot and two neighbouring lots, 18m wide each. Robins nest in the pines and in my maple. They are fierce when they defend their territory and will gang up on intruders, usually with success, driving away even crows and ravens.

The robin nest in the maple is on the south side of the tree. So is my clothesline. My southerly neighbour has a number of hummer attracting flowers and a feeder. So, the clothesline is a great spot for a hummer to sit to catch bugs and have the occasional feed in the neighbouring yard.

Two summers ago, I was working at my desk when a racket began outside my office window. The robins were obviously in great distress. A crow? A cat? Would they need my assistance? I rose to the window and saw four robins. Two on my neighbour's fence and two on my telephone wire. Each was spewing vehemence toward the maple. I searched the maple, thinking there must be a cat in the tree.

I was about to go outside when one of the robins flew toward the maple at speed. That was when I saw the threat. The hummer lifted off the clothesline straight up about 300mm as the robin went by and alit on the line after the robin had passed. He shook his head and ruffed his feathers as if in disdain smugness.

The robin landed in the maple, squawked and returned. Buddy dove downward and sideways, made a tight circle, smacked the robin in the back at about 1m from the line, and perched in the same spot. Each of the robins had a go at him, sometimes two of them at once. Ever see a robin sitting with wings out and mouth open, obviously overheated and exhausted? That's what I saw after about twenty minutes of futility.

And, that is when buddy decided to crank it up a notch. He flew to about 1m in front of a robin and baited it into attack. He did this with each robin, one after another. At one point, two robins collided in mid air. A half hour after I first looked out my window, the robins gave up and buddy went back to eating bugs. Lord and master of the yard... indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 08:24 AM

Oh, yeah... I changed out the grub this morning. The ants and hornets have found the feeders. Gotta get the ant dams installed soon. Only way to get rid of the hornets is too kill them with a trap and I don't do that. Neither do hummers. They could easily kill the hornets, but they don't. They just back off and fly around them.

Actually, the hornets are quite intriguing. Some feed complacently alongside each other, some do not. I assume those that fight are from different nests... anyone know? They go at each other and engage in a kind of wrestling match, at which point they fall to the ground and rise again. I haven't seen any kill the other, but perhaps this can happen? sting the opponent? Any buggers out there know about this?

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Bobert
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 08:59 AM

We have a bumper crop this year of the little fellers... Maybe 10 'er so... They're hard to count 'cause of all the activity...

We've had two get into our "mud room" and I've had to catch them with a big plastic bucket up on the ceiling and then a piece of cardboard squeezed between the opening of the bucket and the ceiling...

I'm not sure why but I collect birds nests and have two hummingbirds nests and they are real cute...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: topical tom
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 09:11 AM

gnu:Honestly, when there were dead flying ants in the sugar solution the hummingbirds never came to feed again.Regardless of the fact that I would thoroughly clean and refill the feeder the ants would come again and the hummers would not feed.I have also seen hornets scare them off as well.
In another vein, after the feeders were removed for a couple of years the hummingbirds would return and hover where the feeders were as though saying, "WTF is going on here? Where's the grub?" LOL!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 09:36 AM

The little red ants in the feeder don't seem to bother them. But, I am still gonna put in some ant dams.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Jeri
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 10:50 AM

I haven't seen them back here, but I haven't been looking, and you HAVE to look- or have the odd 'WTF was that!?' moment. First time I noticed them, I was walking in my back yard. It's a totally unplanned weed 'garden', with ragweed, jewel weed, asters, ornamental oregano, queen anne's lace and joe pye. Hummingbirds LOVE joe pye. Anyway, I got buzzed by a really big bee, then another, then they continued buzzing. I was prepared to swat at one when it did that hovering thing a couple of feet in front of my face, and I thought, 'WHOA! WAAAY better than bees!'

They were less evident in years after that one, until last year when I saw them a lot. After the leaves fell in the autumn, I found the little nest hanging from a branch on the big tree in my front yard. I wanted to save it, but left it too long and the branch came down.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Metchosin
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 11:10 AM

A number of years ago, one sunny afternoon, my neighbour was dozing in a lounge chair on his deck, below his humming bird feeder. My neighbour is a rather rotund gentleman with a florid complexion and a very prominent nose. His reclining figure presented a glaringly obvious opportunity for one of our local rufus hummingbirds. Al awoke suddenly to discover a hummingbird beak and enquiring tongue up his nose. Don't know who was more surprised, Big Al or the bird?

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 12:34 PM

Love it!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 01:32 PM

Metch! Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!! Excellent!

Good thing they didn't try that with me last night when I was snoring... mighta sucked one back!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 01:32 PM

My little sister and I used to sit by the hummer feeders, gnu. We'd move closer each day, until finally the little beauties would perch and feed from our fingers.

Lovely thread! Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 03:07 PM

Some fun, huh?

I know I sound "gushing". But, I have seen many birds "up close". I've had Ruffed Grouse challenge me, scratching and throwing leaves as they ruffed out and defined the line. I've sat 2m from a Perrigrine Falcon perched on the upper deck of my (EX) camp hunting mice, and Ruffed Grouse!, on the lawn. I've sat 5m under a Bald Eagle hunting fish in the river in front of my camp. I've seen ravens in the bog country that were so large you would not believe me. I've had a great horned owl smack me in the back of the head when it was pissed off at me for being there. I've had a wee tiny owl sink his talons into my hand when I tried to rescue him from a tangle. I've had Moose Birds (Grey Jays) help me hunt... yes, HELP me hunt, just like a bird dog, although my hunting days are over now.

And, I could go on, but, you get the pic. Gushing, yes... none compare to the awesome hummer.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Greg B
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 06:10 PM

Their eggs are just incredibly small, as are their nests.

It's a rare privilege to see them nesting. I've only had the
chance once.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: GUEST,eric
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 06:30 PM

Here's the classic slo mo strobe video:
http://techtv.mit.edu/file/146/
(full screen recommended)

But check it after reading the 2005 press release about "discovering" 75% lift from down (forward ) stroke, and the rest from upstroke.   
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=104263

(Resting pulse 40 - flying 500 bpm.)

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: SINSULL
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 06:46 PM

This spring, whne the rhododendron blossomed, Lizzie was sitting the front window making complaining noises. I looked out and there was a tiny hummingbird sitting on the front porch. My first in Maine and so strange to see one just sitting.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Jeri
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 07:13 PM

...and the funny thing is, I just looked out the window, thinking "wouldn't it be cool if I saw one" and I did. The mrs was doing the rounds in the back yard.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 08:11 PM

Eric... thanks! Good stuff!

Mary... kinda neat, eh? Ya don't really think of them ever taking a sit.

Jeri... way cool eh!

Gush, gush... sorry.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: pdq
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 10:12 PM

Anyone who likes hummingbirds has a good heart.

Other vital organs may be suspect in some, but not that one.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Peace
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 10:18 PM

Goodness, what a beautiful thread.

As with most people, seeing a hummer ranks right up there. I absolutely love that 'attitude' they have. They hover and give ya this, "And who might YOU be" stare. Talk about yer David and Goliath story.

Does anyone know whether the story about them hitching rides with geese is fact?

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Jeri
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 10:27 PM

It's a myth. I'm familiar with THAT look. Ya gotta love something that tiny and that fearless.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Phot
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 12:37 AM

Gnu, not many Hummers in Aldershot, but they sound great! There are a few of the wheeled variety though, which don't seem to like my old Disco. Which could be something to do with the "Authorised Hummer Recovery Vehicle" on the back window..............

Wassail!! Chris

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 05:03 AM

Phot... Recovery Vehicle. Hehehe. True Brit "attitude"!! Wassail!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 05:14 PM

Early last summer, I bought a 4' length of 1/8" threaded SS rod and washers and nuts. I bought SS "fruit cups" at The Real Atlantic Stupidstore. I was gonna make ant dams. WEll, I got busy and never did make the ant dams because I had no ant problem last year. I am serious. Not one ant.

So, I had the threaded rod near the back door all summer and into the fall. Damn thing was always in my way in the corner of the boot tray. When I had to go into hospital for an operation in mid-December, I cleaned the house from asshole to appetite because I knew I wouldn't be able to do any housework for at least a month. Today, I decided to build ant dams because the feeders are covered with ants. Anybody seen that threaded rod? It ain't in my house or my garage or Mum's garage.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Escapee
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 08:12 PM

My eldest (30 tomorrow!) worked in a supermarket flower shop some years ago. A hummingbird got into the store and was trying to avoid a bagboy who took it for a moth and was trying to kill it. My daughter, who was raised to know better, held up a bouquet of bright red flowers and led it out the front door.
SKP

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Bee
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 09:52 PM

What lovely stories - and a great starting post, gnu.

We have a lot of hummers around here. They are presently enjoying my Phlox, and they were here very early in summer for my columbine flowers.

I've a risque rescue story. I sometimes work for a friend whose stained glass business is a bit more successful than mine. Several years ago, I was working in his over-the-garage rural studio alone when a hummingbird flew in and couldn't seem to find her way out. Finally, despite my having every window open, she got tired and lit down, but when I tried to approach, she'd exhaust herself more trying to get away. I was going to have to catch her, and looked for something soft, which is kinda rare in a glass studio.

Now, it was really hot working up there with the kiln going, and I'd already removed the only article of clothing I could, and that article was not gonna do the trick. So I looked out the window, made sure no one was around, whipped off my T-shirt, gently collected Ms. Hum in it, and deposited her outside where she could recover safely in a nice bit of flowering shrubbery. And dashed back in before the next car came along!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 10:00 PM

Hehehe. Nice save there, Bee. Your risk of risque-osity resulted in rescue of a real-life ruby.

I just love this thread!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Beer
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 06:44 AM

Usually get a pair or two each year. Problems with ants but bought a small up side down umbrella that attach to the feeder. The only thing is you have to make sure it is topped up with water. Works great.

Great thread and thanks Gnu.
Beer (adrien)

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 02:10 PM

Beer.... that's what I mean by ant dams for the damn ants. Check out the link in my post above at above at Date: 03 Aug 08 - 09:36 AM. I suspect that is the one(s) you have as she imports them into La Belle Province not that far from you.

Well, I gave up on the threaded rod because the only way I know to be sure to find it is what I did yesterday. I got coat hangers ready, drilled holes in the SS fruit cups, inserted the hangers, bent the hangers, clamped them in bench vices so the cups were juuuust right, and filled the bottom thirds of the cups with bathtub caulking. When the caulking gels, I will have feeder hangers with ant dams in them. And, when I am filling the dams with water, I will remember where the threaded rod is.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Becca72
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 03:31 PM

My sister and I sat on her deck not 2 weeks ago and watched a hummingbird feed from her butterfly bush. A very cool thing to watch, that's for sure!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 04:16 PM

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

No hummingbirds here in London, except stuffed and mounted in a glass case in the British Museum.... sob.

Thanks for the stories - one day I WILL get out to the States and go hummer watching.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 05:14 PM

There is a lady not too far from here that has an amazing hummer population. Even though it has been "profiled" in the newspaper, the location of her house has been kept rather secret because she doesn't appreciate the gawkers. She has an "old" house near "the marsh", and the house has many windows (22). She has feeders all over the place and she has the suction cup type feeders on every window.

Now, this is no lie... she gets over 200 hummers on her property some days... at the same time.

Of course, she knows a trick. Don't ask. She told me not to tell.

And, there is The Hummingbird Café in Alma, NB. They have hummer feeders on their dining room windows. Amazing to watch, while you have dessert... Hummingbird Pie... I am sure it's just frozen cheesecake from a grocery. But, if you ask the waitrees, she will tell you it's awful having to pluck them.... takes hours to make a pie.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: skarpi
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 05:36 PM

jabb me too they are great jeeps :>)

hee hee

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Bee
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 07:08 PM

Gnu, I saw a television bit on the Hummingbird Cafe - it looked like a beautiful little spot, and there were hummers everywhere, and tons of flowers.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Ebbie
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 01:01 AM

Somewhere on a long-ago thread I mentioned a friend who hosted lots of hummers. She lined up several feeders along the roofline of her porch so she could watch them from her kitchen window all day long.

Then she strung two clotheslines close to the feeders; sometimes there were six hummers at a time perched and resting. When she hung the lines I didn't think it would work- until then I had never seen any hummer just sitting around.

Hummingbirds, in actuality, are feisty little critters; they defend their territory fiercely. I've never seen any of them succeed in keeping a territory to themselves, of course, but they do keep trying. At times one feels like breaking up the fights, yelling Can't we all just get along?

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Peace
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 01:09 AM

Hummingbirds represent the thing we should speak for. After all, they do a third-part harmony on the fifth. S'way I sing it, anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 03:32 PM

Well, they are loaded for bear here! Six of them were all around me late this morning. So close at times, I couldn't get the camcorder on them. At one point, sitting in my chair whistling The Croppy Boy, one large male zipped straight at me and hovered about 1m from my face. I finished whistling the verse, he chirped and went to the first hanging basket of mini-petunias and proceeded to feed for a few miutes, just over 2m from me, with his back to me most of the time. Now, that is trust.

I can't help but think that there is not much time left to enjoy them. The males will begin to leave around the full moon and the females and young will do the same two to three weeks later. >:-(

Add to that the Bald Eagle I watched at the same time, rising on the thermals, as if practising for two moons from now. Unless they too will begin south in about ten days on the next moon? And, we had Blackbirds here a week ago. And, about then, we had a NW wind. The first one in about six weeks. Less than two weeks ago, we had 48H (Humidex temperature) and yesterday, I almost fired up the wood stove.... 17C, wet and windy... from the NW.

I predict an early fall here... long, cool and dry. At least, that is what I ordered.

Of course, I put in a request that the hummers would stay a bit longer, but....

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 03:48 PM

About ten years ago, when I lived at another house, with a couple of cats and the woman they owned, the younger cat, Cassie, discovered that the lilac out back contained a Hummer nest. She went after them. Bad move.

I was reading a newspaper and I heard Cassie yowling. I knew that yowl and I knew she was in trouble. I sprang to the deck and saw her hugging grass under the lilac. And, I saw the beasts attacking her. They were savage and viciously unrelenting! Two of them, flying in alternating figure 8 patterns... as one would attract Cassie to it's flight, the other would swoop in and NAIL her in the back of the head with it's Beak Of Death.

I steeled myself and entered the bloody fray. I deftly scooped up the twelve pound cat and brought her in the house, whereupon, I washed the blood from the back of her head and applied some HP to make sure the wounds did not get infected. When I put her on the kitchen floor and opened the back door, she went down to the basement instead. Good move.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 05:53 PM

Great new stories, gnu. I check this thread daily. Three times, today.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: MaineDog
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 06:43 PM

I used to love 'em too, until gas went to $4.20 per gallon!!
MD :)

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 07 Aug 08 - 10:52 PM

gnu- I want to post a hummer story or two in the morning, so I'll send your thread flying up where we can find it.
                                          
Hummmmm         O> @>-\--\
                           \/x\/                                    
                            ^


Let's see if this works...

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 01:31 PM

Ya get lost or sommat?

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 05:54 PM

Well, I can't get my Sony Camcorder to talk to my PC, so, here's what I am talkin about... on yer U toob.

Lots a videos ta give ya an idea.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 08:38 PM

Across the Miles

When dusk finally comes, I am weary.
Tired and stiff from bending, digging,
From hauling water and planting, weeding-
Too weary for tears but eyes filling,
Splashing the apricot rose anyway.
I listen for hummingbird wings.

In Oswego tea (red monarda,)
In blue anise hyssop and harebells, cranesbill,
In cardinal vine and milkweed, roses-
I sink to my knees in the twilight
Seeking some peace from the grinding of day.
I rest where the hummingbirds feed.

I hear the hum first then I see him;
Wings beating air so quickly, blurring,
Squeaking a challenge, demanding, warning-
A rubythroat shimmers before me.
Dipping and rising in air he is writing.
I'm watching a hummingbird dance.

And just as the glow of the evening
Slides down the trunks of the pine trees, fading,
Just as the hummingbird finishes feeding,
I think of a friend who loves hummers.
I sing in the peace of the ending of day,
Rejoicing for hummingbird wings.

copyright maeve in Maine August 8, 2008 all rights reserved

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Beer
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 10:12 PM

What you hiding from us girl? That is beautiful.
Adrien

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 11:36 PM

Oh, maeve! That is stunningly beautiful!

I was thrilled to have one little hummingbird at some flowers on my front steps, today!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 12:07 AM

Okay, now I've read the whole thread. Great one, gnu!

My Uncle Arthur used to have about twenty feeders hanging from the eaves of his porch/walkway towards his front door. I swear generations of hummers would come back there every year to feed. They would land on his hat, his hands, shoulders, and arms, all the while their buddies would be feeding, buzzing, etc. It was like magic to visit him and just stand there to watch them all. He had dozens every day.

Years ago I had a very special female Siamese, Sasheen, who caught a ruby-throated hummingbird. She did not harm it, but brought it to me. I was privileged to hold it, cupped in my hands, while it recovered from the shock. I could feel its tiny, tiny heart beating a mile a minute, it seemed, until I opened my hands and it flew away. It was an incredible thing to have experienced.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 05:32 AM

Maeve... "Dipping and rising in air he is writing."

Oh my... oh my! Wonderful! Beautiful!

Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 07:13 AM

Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Raptor
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 07:26 AM

It's good to see everyone enjoying birds.

Great Thread.

Raptor

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 02:13 PM

Just a moment ago I saw something I had never seen. Hummer sat on a branch about three to four feet away from me, and with the sun positioned just so, he stuck his tongue out twice. It was as long as his beak, and shone silver - It looked like a spider's thread glistening in the bright light.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 02:32 PM

Such a thing to see! Thank you, heric!

I can imagine a new saying emerging from your observation:

"Silver as a hummingbird's tongue!"

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 02:47 PM

Wow!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 05:09 PM

Yeah, I am a slut... but, ya gotta play the whole thing...

The Blue Heron is New Brunswick's Official Bird. It's magnificent!.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 05:21 PM

Ahhh... two PM's that fast? Sorry... I just like birds. Why can't this thread be about other birds too? A good story, or tune, is good to share.... no?

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 07:15 PM

gnu, thanks for the link! That led me to Valdy's site as well as Corey Heuvel's...listening to a 2 CD set of Valdy at CDBaby - it's only $12.97 for the set! Good stuff. I may have to order it. I like what I hear of Corey, too!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 07:34 PM

gnu- You already know I can't follow that link with this dear old machine, but thanks for it anyway. I always appreciate links to good information.

Now let's keep this lovely thread hummmmmmmmming along!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 07:40 PM

kat... I got a soft spot in my heart for birds AND folkies like Valdy... especially when... not only are his tunes great, but, I saw him up close once... and I was mezzzzzerimized by his guitar playing.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 07:50 PM

Yeeeese Maeve... plaaaaaay me a hummingbird song!... please... as I asked in the first post. Or any kinda bird... or cat or... just whatever... as long as it's not weening. I cannot read another post about death and destruction and debautchery. I don't even care if I spelled that incorrectly... please post your song...

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 10 Aug 08 - 04:55 AM

Good morning hummmmmmmingbird watchers!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 10 Aug 08 - 09:57 AM

"In some hummingbirds--mostly species that are south of the border--the males gather in communities, which are called leks. Then they all sing together to try to entice females to come into the neighborhood for mating."

This intriguing comment was found:

Here...

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 10 Aug 08 - 10:05 AM

I am not familiar with the term "lek" so I looked a bit further and found this:

"The term derives from the Swedish lek, a noun which typically denotes pleasurable and less rule-bound games and activities ("play", as by children). Specifically, the etymology of the word "lek" is from 1871 and means to engage in courtship displays (of certain animals); probably from the Swedish leka "to play".[3]"


Wikipedia reference

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 10 Aug 08 - 10:35 AM

For those among us who enjoy good poetry as much as we do the sight of a hummingbird:


Hummingbird Poetry

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 10 Aug 08 - 12:45 PM

Excellent stuff, m. And, there are links on the links that link to other excellent links.

I'm hungry.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Barry Finn
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 03:10 AM

I got my 1st hummer in High School. Coming from the inner city I had never seen one or knew what one was until a girl friend of mine from High School give me one.

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 17 Aug 15 - 07:10 PM

Refresssssh for gnu and hummmmmmmers

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: Janie
Date: 17 Aug 15 - 08:48 PM

Finally have hummers to watch here, after 7-8 years. I got excited early in the season and put out a feeder but had no takers. Also not much planted to draw them. 2 weeks ago noticed a couple of of them trying to find nectar (ha!) among the drying hydrangea blooms, and checking out the spot where the feed hung early in the season (had left the red hook from which it had been suspended.)

Rewarded! See a few every morning before work and in the evening after work since I put the feeder back up. Need to figure out a place to hang it nearer to where I sit so I can watch more closely.

Thanks for resurrecting this thread, maeve!

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE Hummers!
From: GUEST,Arnold Schwarzenegger
Date: 17 Aug 15 - 09:07 PM

I just love Hummers, too. I can run down your hummers with my Hummer.

Sincerfully,

The Governator

(as transcribed by some guy in Applegate, California)

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: ragdall
Date: 18 Aug 15 - 01:55 AM

I love hummers too, gnu.
We're just back after being away for a week and sadly, the two feeders I left out for them are still almost full. I'm afraid that the hummers are leaving us already.

A few photos from the end of June:
http://cupofkindness.proboards.com/post/3617

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 Aug 15 - 10:07 AM

I was picking tomatoes when something whizzed by my head. I followed its path, and it turned out to be a hummingbird, a young one with gray and green feathers with no throat patch. It perched on the neighbor's clothesline and could hardly be told from the clothespins.

From the tree behind me came a series of sharp cheeps, and I think that was the parent, warning the little one to be careful, because humans can be dangerous. I stood without moving, and got a good look at the young one.

A few years ago, we planted two vines of native honeysuckle on a fence, and I believe the hummingbirds were attracted by it. The fence - stupid thing - was a neighbor's idea, and the purpose of the honeysuckle was to obscure it as well as to feed the wildlife.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: gnu
Date: 18 Aug 15 - 10:17 AM

Thanks, maeve. Nice pics, rags.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: EBarnacle
Date: 18 Aug 15 - 12:56 PM

More than 20 years ago my now ex-spouse and I were getting married at Sandy Hook, NJ.
We were on the beach getting pix taken when a ruby throat flew into her bouquet. Yes the flowers were red.
Needless to say, the photographer missed it.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 Aug 15 - 12:29 PM

I had something similar happen to me. I was taking a picture of an iris in Louisiana when a hummingbird flew into view. I couldn't react fast enough to get the picture, either.

Another time, I was sitting on a sandy beach in the Grand Canyon, wearing a floppy hat with flowers printed in it, when a hummingbird flew up to me to check out the flowers. I didn't see the bird, but I certainly heard its wings, and I saw its shadow on the sand. In a few seconds, it was gone.

Subject: RE: BS: I just LOVE hummers!
From: maeve
Date: 08 Sep 15 - 05:15 AM

This will give my friend gnu plenty to read:

Hummingbirds- Articles, photos, and studies