Congrats, Ken! Patience is a virtue, so they say...but "they" weren't trying to get hummers to their feeders. =) Glad your wait is over.

Hummers do feed more often at feeders at daybreak and right before dusk. I think this has something to do with nectar supplies in flowers not being available before/after a certain sunlight requirement...but that may not be right. But a nice early evening playing banjo by the feeder and watching the hummers dip in sounds like about as good as it gets to me! =)

Congratulations!! Ken. Your first hummers are always exciting and I hope you get more visits and Im sure you will. I have not seen a hummer on my monarda as of yet. Im not sure why they tend to congragate at the feeders at dusk maybe the flowers nectar is depleted and maybe its too dark to see to capture insects. Whatever the case arent we glad they come early morn and just before dark.

Thanks mbuckmaster, hummersteve and Tracey!

They were back tonight. :c) Though that smile should be as big as the one you posted Tracey!

I think they were the same two. One black small male on the window feeder and one larger green female on the other feeder. Same ports each time and each day!

They are so cool!

I read a really interesting site last night on hummers feeding habits. Someone did a study of birds of the same weight and they took different ratio mixes and found that if they put more sugar in the mix the birds would feed less often in the hour. Decrease the sugar in the mix and they came back many times more in the hour. So they said if you want a lot of activity not to make a strong solution. They also said though that you have to coordinate the mix with your neighbors because they will tend to go the the stronger concentrations.

I can post the link if you want.

Ken

Congrats. I also just had a good evening. The first male since May 20th visited my feeder at 8:30pm. He must have perched and drank for 4-5 seconds at a time for about 30 seconds, by far the longest a hummer has stayed at my feeder. Also, until today, the latest I had seen a hummer was 6:30pm. I was really surprised when this male came back again at 9:00pm, when it was getting somewhat dark. He drank a good amount again. I hope he comes back during the day when I can see him better.

After last night's male sighting I decided to get up early this morning and watch the feeder for several hours to see exactly what kind of action I'm getting. I was expecting to see the male again, but he was a no-show. However, a female(I assume the same one that has been around for over a week) was very busy. She first showed up at 6:40am and perched for an amazing two minutes, alternating between drinking and relaxing. Over the next four hours she came to the feeder eight more times, drinking for an additional four minutes. One time she even had a winged insect in her beak when she arrived. She has not returned again during the midday hours.

Thanks for keeping me updated hawkeye_wx!

I have not seen the hummers the last two days. :c( I was in my garden both nights for about an hour at the same time as I saw them the other nights. Certainly a let down, but I am hoping they will return. Obviously they must have a good source somewhere else.

That's so cool, to see a hummer with a just caught insect. I've never seen that.

Mine spend all day fighting with one of the males 'Atilla the Hun' trying to dominate. He is severely out numbered at the moment. They all get time at the feeders when Atilla is busy chasing one of the others away.

I have a few hummers here thruout the day as noted by some images and vids I have posted, but august is the peak month. Migration is in full swing and almost all of august last year made it a point to be outside with my coffee at dawn and watch the hummers come in to feed. At times during that period I could count 20plus in my yard at the same time. As a side note just now I saw robin splashing around in my bird bath which has a water wiggler to keep the water moving. That is even more odd as its been springling rain and only 69°

Thanks Steve,

So you have hummers all day long? Lucky you! I have only seen them after the sun has gone down, but I am not up at dawn. How does dusk compare to dawn for you?

Perhaps I will wake up early to see what is going on, but I know I can't get that much activity at dawn as the feeders don;t appear to get any lower.

Ken

Until today I had not seen a hummer between 11am and 4pm this year. Today a female hummer visited the feeder about 20 times from 6:30am to 2:30pm. The very cool, cloudy, rainy weather probably had something to do with the hummer visiting through mid afternoon. The male is almost exclusively a 7pm to 9pm visitor. I'm not sure what it is doing the rest of the day.

Good for you hawkeye!

I would even be happy to see them between dawn and 11am, and after 4! I am hoping tonight to see them this evening between 8 and 8:45!

Ken

As a rule Im not up at dawn either being a night person. I only do it in august and I have to set my alarm for that. You cant really compare whats going on now at dawn or dusk to what happens in august. That is peak migration time and well worth the effort for a hummer enthusiast. I have not always had the action Im having now. Ive lived here six years and the first year I dont remember having very many(3 or 4) even during migration which I knew nothing about at that time. But I stray, over the years I have added feeders as needed and steadily added hummer plants in my small yard. Each year it seems I have accumulated more and more hummers. OH, what fun it is.

Steve

I was watching tv in the dining room and watching the feeder through the window for much of the day and my two hummers visited the feeder at least a combined 26 times, easily my busiest day. Late this evening I also finally got something I was hoping for... a meeting of the male and female at the feeder. The female was at the feeder when the male arrived for a final drink before darkness set in. I keep reading how aggressive males can be, but it was my female that went after the male. I was hoping the two would drink together in peace.

I'll be satisfied if I can get just a couple more hummers in August.

Hawkeye I too hope you get more hummers in august. It is also a bitter-sweet time as it signals the end of hummer season as it winds down. So I try to enjoy as much of it as I can. Good luck.

Steve

My female left about ten days ago, but the male has used the feeder every evening this month. Until tonight he had always come by 8:35pm, so when the clock said 8:50 and he was a no-show I thought he must've left. He won't come after 8:55 because of darkness. However, at 8:51 there he was. The notable thing about tonight's visit is he perched and drank, without moving from his original spot on the perch, for over six minutes. I thought that was pretty neat.

Sounds like we have the same experience hawkeye_wx. My female has not been here for a long time and the male comes once a day as it gets dark. So different than what hummersteve and others have. :c(

I finally had an encounter with my first Hummer!!!!! Buzzed around my head and looked me in the eyes as to say Hello! This was about 7 p.m. I was so darn happy I ran into the house to tell my SO that I have a hummer! He just laughs at my enthusiasm but when he sees them he also gets excited.

I was so worried my hummers were gone due to road construction last year.

I should get up early and see if I have more morning hummers or just this stray.

Exciting, isn't it Monica! I hope they return in great numbers!

Well, I'm hummerless once again. After coming to the feeder for seventeen consecutive evenings my male hummer has apparently left. I haven't seen him the last three days. I just have to hope one or two stop by during August as they head south.

Had a great morning here. Four hummers have visited my patio area and feeder multiple times... a male, two females, and a new juvenile male. Only the adult male and one of the females goes directly to the feeder while the other two haven't figured it out and stick with the flowers.

Hawkeye

Thats really good news , hope things stay that way for you thru august. It seems to be status quo here, I will need to start getting up early again just to make sure.