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Hummingbirds?
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Posted by
tom123 z9 Fl. (
tbyrnes@cfl.rr.com) on
Wed, Sep 12, 12 at 0:28
| Can't find the thread we had about a year ago on hummingbirds that we saw in our gardens. It seems to me that people in South Florida seem to not see many hummers in the winter months while people just south of the Orlando area tend to get visitors right about now.
I have two or three Ruby-throateds hanging around now and I've had at least one almost continually since last year. I live just west of Orlando. I think the mild winter last year helped keep them around this area.
Anyone else seeing hummers lately? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| They are still here in Brooksville. They have been around since April. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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- Posted by katkin 9b/10a PSL,Fl (My Page) on
Wed, Sep 12, 12 at 6:30
| I usually don't see my first one until Oct. They stay through the winter and are gone by spring. So nothing yet this year.;o) |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| I have quite a few in my yard right now. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| Hoping to see them in my garden again this year but not before October. How about some pictures Tom? |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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If possible please mention which part of the state you are in, so we can have a good idea where the hummers are.
Katkin and Keiki, I bet you are south of Orlando, but north of Indian River County. Kayjones, I'm guessing that you are north of Orlando or at least not far south of it. I don't have the patience or time to get a good foto, Keiki. They come and go very quickly and although right a dusk is a good time to see them, I'm not usually around at that time. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| Interesting. I'm right out on the barrier island just east of Katkin and in the 14 years I've lived out here I've never seen one. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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- Posted by katkin 9b/10a PSL,Fl (My Page) on
Wed, Sep 12, 12 at 16:33
| I am in St Lucie County, right on the coast. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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- Posted by katkin 9b/10a PSL,Fl (My Page) on
Wed, Sep 12, 12 at 16:33
| I am in St Lucie County, right on the coast. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| I've been seeing one female more on than off since the middle of July including this morning. Considering in 10+ years I've had less than 5 sightings, this is very peculiar. I don't know if I've had a lot of transients, or if one has decided to hang around for a while. (Gulf coast south of Tampa Bay) |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| Last year I had a female that showed up for a few weeks in August. I haven't seen any this year, though I haven't spent much time looking either. John |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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- Posted by sis3 9b N. Pinellas (My Page) on
Thu, Sep 13, 12 at 20:39
| We have had hummers here daily almost all year too. We were aware of three hummers 'competing' as we chatted to the neighbors a few evenings ago but I don't know how many individuals are visiting my garden. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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Ooh, that is interesting Sis3. I've never seen one here in Pinellas, never mind North Pinellas. I live in Tarpon Springs. My mother in law regularly has them near homes on the Suwanee near Cedar Key and Trenton for much of the year.
Guess I'll have to clean out the feeder and fill it up. I had given up on them..... |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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- Posted by sis3 9b N. Pinellas (My Page) on
Fri, Sep 14, 12 at 4:46
| I have never had any success with any of my feeders. We never saw a hummer here either until I planted a butterfly/hummer garden a few years ago. We have been seeing them every year since but this year has been exceptional. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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Sis3,
That is good to know. So what are the hummer favorite plants? I have 8 hibiscus, 3 firebush, 1 bottlebrush, lantana, 15 azaleas, 3 gardenias, confederate jasmine, trumpet?, mexican petunia (purple plants) and 6 citrus trees (all new), crape jasmine. Yesterday I saw 4 different butterflies in our lawn which was a pretty good showing, no only to see a hummer. Thanks, Darren |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| Darren, I garden primarily for hummingbirds and butterflies. This year has been pretty normal for hummingbirds, but it has been terrific for butterflies. The good thing is that most of the flowers that attract hummingbirds also attract butterflies. However, if you really want butterflies you will also need to plant host plants--ones that they lay eggs on. For hummingbirds and butterflies I think the best all-around plant in Florida is the large red penta. Usually these are only sold in nurseries, not in the large "box" stores. There are many plants that attract hummingbirds; you have two very good plants--firebush and bottlebrush. They will also visit hibiscus, lantana and azaleas, but not as often. They really like salvias. There are many, many kinds and you can usually find them in most stores. Right now they are visiting the red firespikes (Odontonema strictum) quite a bit. Another excellent plant for both hummingbirds and butterflies is the porterweed. Again, there are several kinds, but the most productive in my garden are the ones with large blue flowers. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| Thanks Tom. I forgot to mention I have milkweed earlier. Plan on getting more host plants but want the hummers too. I think UF has pentas for sale today, hmmmm, may have to swing by there. Good list, thanks for sharing that. Darren |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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- Posted by sis3 9b N. Pinellas (My Page) on
Fri, Sep 14, 12 at 11:52
| We have only a small front yard but it is overflowing with butterfly/hummingbird attracters. The hummers are especially attracted to the tall red Pentas, Firespike, Firecracker, Firebush, Buddleia, Golden Dewdrop, Porterweed (we have 3 colors) Coral Honeysuckle, Sweet Almond, Hibiscus, Shrimp Plant, Powderpuff, Milkweed, and Salvia. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| You know, it's funny about the red pentas. I always have butterflies on the pink penta, lantana, and plumbago, but I've hardly ever seen one on the red penta, although it blooms just as much and is the same bed with the others. When they're on the plnk penta and they fight, the loser goes to the plumbago, never the red penta. I wonder why. (ditto for bees and wasps, but there are never any hummingbirds out here) |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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- Posted by sis3 9b N. Pinellas (My Page) on
Fri, Sep 14, 12 at 13:01
| That is strange, writersblock! |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| Very nice pic, Sis3. Are you sure you have the tall red ones, Writer's Bloc? The smaller ones are hybrids usually and don't have the same pollen or nectar levels. Liked your list, Sis, although I really have not had much luck with the Golden Dew Drop. The Coral Honeysuckle might be the single best plant for hummingbirds there is in this area. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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- Posted by sis3 9b N. Pinellas (My Page) on
Fri, Sep 14, 12 at 15:48
| Thank you Tom! I was wondering the same thing about Writer's Block's Pentas. Mine are 4ft to 5ft tall even though I keep giving them a severe haircut! |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| Beautiful photo, sis3. We don't get many swallowtails out here and they seem to prefer the hibiscus when they do come around. As for whether they're the tall ones, I do cut everything back (really need to do it again), but right now they're a little over 3 ft tall. Do the short ones get that big? |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| As Sis says the tall ones will get to be five to six feet tall if you let them grow. I don't think the others get to be three feet, but I haven't had any for a long time. One of the good things about the pentas is that they are very easy to start from cuttings. In fact, I took some cuttings about two weeks ago and just put them in the ground. So far, they are all making it, although some are feeble looking. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| We had hummingbirds for the first time last year and it was wonderful! Once a hummingbird showed up, we saw them pretty often for a few months. I think the difference was planting Mexican sage next to our deck, right outside one of our living room windows. We then saw them (or the same one, maybe) next to our bouganvillea, our bottlebrush tree, and maybe our hibiscus. We are in Southwest Florida. I think that it didn't show up until spring time, but I could be wrong. It could also coincide with when we first planted the Mexican sage. We have tons of butterflies right now! I'm so happy! They love the marigolds planted on the deck. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| The past few years the hummers have shown up the 1st week of September. I saw one on the 8th around the red firespike. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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- Posted by tomncath St.Pete-Z10A-Heat 10 (My Page) on
Sat, Sep 15, 12 at 19:04
| I'm adding to this post because I saw my first hummer EVER at my location after living here for sixteen years. I'm in St. Petersburg immediately off coastal Tampa Bay, right outside Weedon Island. On Thursday 8/30 I saw a hummer check out my Cherries Jubilee allamanda for approximately TWO seconds. We see hummers in the Bahamas all the time so I know this was not a mirage. Just to make sure I asked neighbors on both sides of my house and across the street since they have ixoras and we see them working ixoras in the Bahamas all the time. Two of the three neighbors confirmed they do occasionally see hummers here :-) Tom |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| Visited my Mother In Law this weekend in Trenton. She has a beautiful garden filled with Hibiscus, Lantana, Crape Myrtle, Butterfly Weed, Citrus, and 3 hummingbird feeders. She had a minimum of 3 hummingbirds at one time buzzing her plants and feeders. They are aggressive running each other off at times but were very easy to spot throughout the this weekend. Usually there wasn't longer than 10 minutes without one or more hummers flying about. I managed to photograph and watch a hummer rest on a small shrub for over a minute, it seemed like an eternity. Most of my videos were shot in portrait orientation and need to be turned before I can share them but this one was in landscape mode so I could share it right away. I saw the hummers feeding on Lantana, Hibiscus, Big Firebush and Butterfly Weed as well as the feeders. Picked up a Shrimp Plant today along with a Chinese Pagoda and Yellow Candlestick..........$7 apiece. Two of these plants are close to 5 foot tall. Darren |
Here is a link that might be useful: Hummer video I shot Saturday 9-15-12
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| Nice video, Darren. Your mother-in-law lives in Trenton, New Jersey? If so, she will only have hummers a few more weeks. The Ruby-throateds are migrating towards Mexico, Central America and some are coming here to Florida. Tomncath, we are going to get you to start planting some hummer plants yet. Remember, they double as butterfly attractors. Coffeemom, I find your posting a bit surprising. I thought that most people saw hummers in South Florida in the summer months and then less in the winter months. That may not be true, I guess. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| Tom thanks. Haha Tom that probably wouldn't be appropriate for a Florida forum, right? Trenton, Florida lies just northeast of Chiefland and south of Bell and West of Gainesville in Gilchrist county. The plants I bought were at the flea market in Chiefland, everything was $7 or $8. He even had a small native magnolia tree for just $8! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Video of Hummers in Trenton, Florida Sept 2012
RE: Hummingbirds?
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- Posted by tomncath St.Pete-Z10A-Heat 10 (My Page) on
Mon, Sep 17, 12 at 19:03
| Tomncath, we are going to get you to start planting some hummer plants yet. Remember, they double as butterfly attractors. Well, I'm about ready to put either Coral Honeysuckle or Mexican Flame Vine on the arbor. I never could figure out why they had NO interest in the Morning Glories, which were abundant and blooming year around, the bumble bees sure loved them. |
RE: Hummingbirds?
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| I've had a few ruby throated hummers all summer. We live in the Georgia bend. Charlton county. The thumb part of Georgia that is actually surrounded by Florida. We have one feeder and a huge golden dewdrop. I have been watering plants near the dewdrop and had one come in to feed. Boy, do they make an intense noise with their wings! It was only about 1 foot away from me. What a thrill! |
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