no i dont think the cold will slow them down,ive had them by me into october with 15-20 degrees at night. something strange seems to be going on;i have perenials popping up all over my garden;my vines already have new leaves forming on them;that is real early for zone 5. any one else sense this?

My butterfly bushes had new leaves, the size of nickels, on it all winter, and it was a cold and snowy winter too! Everything else seems to be about normal though.

My last hummingbirds last year were before the end of August. Seems that the migrating birds need to find my yard. Last year I put the feeders out the very last week of March and I did not get any till JUNE 30! Three months later than the earliest sighting here in central NJ. Guess the migrating ones need to find there way here, hopefully! :C)

I most likely will hang a window feeder out during the 1st week of april even though I dont get any till the end of april.

I'm in zone 7, and I normally see my first RTHB around the 1st of April. Feeder is up now. No sightings yet.

Thanks Steve and bandjzmom,

You both put out one feeder and I put out three. :C( I figured I would cover three different sides of my house to increase my chances. Guess it is not too much extra work. Hopefully it will pay off. :c)

bandjzmom... I am guessing that you have a child in a jazz band?

I'm about 2 weeks away from my average 1st arrival, but I put a feeder out today - just in case. The hummers may be late this year, the Fire Pinks haven't started sending up their flower spikes yet - the 1st hummer usually arrives within a day or two of the 1st blooms.

I just started getting into bird watching and looked back in my camera and saw I'd taken pictures of two bluebirds in my front in February with a lot of snow on the ground in VA. I quickly have gone out and bought a birdhouse and suet for them. Hopefully they were staying and haven't moved on

I have GOT to get some of that Dianthus! Love it! I need it for the early Monarchs, too.

It't been a long, hard winter for most everyone - bring on the hummers!

Susan

Most years I get an arrival around the 1st of May , could be anywhere from the 30th to the 4th. Hardly ever beyond that although last year it was april 25th , my earliest ever.

Did anyone notice the latest sighting on the indiana/kentucky border. Last year there was a sighting on 3/26 in my general area but I didnt see one till a month later.

I too noted the sighting (Louisville, KY) and alerted my friend in Newburgh IN near Evansville - Suggested she get nectar ready and hang a feeder. They will be hungry after their long, long northward journey! : )

Susan, there has been bad news here in San Antonio about Monarchs. The local news paper says there are very few sightings of them moving north, due to a cold winter. Hopefully they are late moving through here, and you will get them late

I don't see them much in the spring, but I have seen literally clouds of them migrating south in the fall. It's a unique event enjoyed here.

Just having a monarch in my garden is a fairly rare event here and I usually take a photo when it happens, although I have other varieties.

That sure is a purty feeder Dee. Personally though I would not buy it. For two main reasons. First is that one needs to clean the feeders regularly as the sugar water spoils and gets mold. That sure looks like a hard feeder to clean as one needs to brush the inside of the feeder. Hard thing to do with a wide bottle and a narrow mouth. Second reason for me is the tin roof. Those 3 bars coming down blocks the view and these birds are small. Personally I would not want it. If you don't mind the bars and spending a little more effort cleaning the feeder then go for it.

The Hummzingers on that same page come apart in half and they are very easy to clean. Same with the Droll Yankees with the same design.

Yes, first there were reports that the Monarchs suffered devastating losses due to illegal logging in one of the most important roosting sites in the fir forests; followed then by the freezing cold temps, which further decimated the population, and now they are reporting that even more losses than expected have occurred, and the population is half of what was an already anticipated low population.

This will be the lowest population since record keeping began in 1995. Nevertheless, I still have hope that I may get at least one fertile mama. Crossing my fingers!

Susan

dee

The feeder is cute with a nice umbrella , but is not really pracical. It is for the buyer who wants something that look nice or classy, but the hummers could care less. The first question I always ask when it comes to a new feeder is how easy will it be to clean. The top one looks like it only comes apart at the top cork and may be difficult to clean thoroughly. All of the saucer types below it should be easy to clean. I use some large bottle type feeders where I need bottle and stove brushes to clean them. I use these because of the quantity of hummers I attract to my yard. If you really like the feeder at the top buy it , but personally I would not buy it. I usually set out 12-15 feeders especially at peak times, so you can see why I need feeders that are easy to clean.

Dee, I would like to suggest that you pick a feeder with perches. Hummingbirds expend a lot on energy flying, and mine nearly always perch when feeding. It's good to give them a place to rest.

As a matter of fact, someone in the forum posted a picture last year of a hummer sleeping while perched at a feeder. Who was that? LOL

Rob, that was Steve.

I put up a small feeder last week. This morning while I was outside drinking my coffee and looking at my garden I heard a familiar sound......I turned to see a hummer at the feeder!! So!! Yeah...they are back...I'm near Prescott, Arizona in the high country. I already made more sugar water for them. :):)

beca~