I don't usually see them out here (near Topsfield) until May 15ish. I'm going to put the feeders out tomorrow.

last year I had one on May 1st sitting on my fishing pole. I'm in North Yarmouth. I've had my feeders out for 2 weeks. Guess I need to change them with fresh stuff, huh?

I have put my feeders out a week ago,and so far no sign of the little fellows here in Boothbay.Its been so miserable weatherwise for them.

no sign here yet, either.

Does anyone put hummingbird feeders in the garden? I'm going to try it this year because someone told me it will encourage them to eat bugs out there.

None here in Cornish either. I put the feeder out last week since there were reports of them being seen in southern New Hampshire three weeks ago. Rose-breasted grosbeaks made it back yesterday, so it should be any day now. Black flies were a little late this year, but you won't hear me complaining about that!

My hummingbirds have just arrived this afternoon.Have to make fresh(1 part sugar to 4 parts boiled water)nectar for them.I just have 2 window mount feeders and I am kept busy keeping them supplied,it is lovely to see them.Regards Josie _2

Just came back this afternoon!

I heard one buzz me Saturday but didn't see him. One of my feeders was empty yesterday, but have only seen a baltimore oriole at it.

Mine are back in Eastern Maine. They were buzzing my rhodo on Sunday.

They are finally here! The male is back on his post guarding the yard and chasing the others away!

We had one in Brewer this week on our rhododendron. Hopefully his friends will follow!

Wow....that's so wonderful. Are your watching them closest then 2 feet?

Mine come closer to me than 2 feet,their feeder is on the window beside the chair I read my newspaper in.I think they read the paper over my shoulder.I keep looking out for the Baltimore orioles-got my orange out for them,but no sign so far.Regards Josie _2

I put up a teardrop shaped feeder from Wally land the elcheapo one and the hummers came right away, it's been a week now and I think I've seen 3 different birds, 2 smaller ones and a larger one. they sure are fast, they have been coming in the pouring rain and feeding and yesterday with the high winds they came, too!

Leasa, Eastport

They've been buzzing around here for a little over a week, but the rain must've presented them with a terrible hassle!

This afternoon I spotted one. I was inside and saw him outside the window; he was trying to feed on the salmon geraniums that were INSIDE the window. Poor little thing, he made repeated efforts, tapping the glass, unable to figure out why the tempting blossom was just out of reach!

Hummingbirds showed up here in the Augusta area a few days ago. The Augusta newspaper ran a big color hummingbird photo taken in Hallowell. Andy Molloy was the photographer, and the picture was worthy of book publication.

Time to wash and clean and load our feeder. Is the 1 part sugar to 4 parts boiled water formula the generally accepted recipe? That seems a little stronger than what we used last year.

MM

I use one to four. I just bring the water to a boil, stir in the sugar, and let it cool. I make 8 cups at a time and refrigerate. I've refilled 4 feeders three times so far. The Baltimore Orioles can get to one of them so that empties first. I give the orioles oranges, too, and they are noisy when they've eaten them.

Elaine,

"I use one to four. I just bring the water to a boil, stir in the sugar, and let it cool."

I now see that one to four seems to be the consensus on the web. Of course, things get copied from one source to another a lot, so the web can be a very severe example of "group think." But I think one to four should be safe, so that is what I used. I assume that is volumetric measure, since I am using my wife's measuring cups.

The Hummingbird.net site notes that some sources, such as the 1993 article in WildBird magazine suggest sugar concentrations as high as one to one. Based on that, I may go a little richer on my next batch.

I cleaned up our hummingbird feeder, which was pretty disreputable, and sterilized it with hydrogen peroxide. Following the recommendations on the Hummingbirds.net website, I removed the yellow flowers from our feeder (to avoid attracting bees).

I also mixed up a small batch of 1-cup well water to ¼-cup table sugar without heating the water (again, per advice on the Hummingbirds.net site.) I just added the water to a pan and stirred the sugar in. It dissolved just fine after a few minutes of stirring. That way I didn't have to wait for the mixture to cool before putting it out in the feeder. But, no joy, no hummingbirds showed up to feed today, at least none that I saw. Maybe tomorrow they will discover the feeder.

MM

Saw my first one this year, I was in Bass Harbor!

I put my hummingbird feeder out about a week ago and have had several H. birds here for about five days. I put out an oriole feeder and oranges at the same time. I have been trying to entice them for a couple of years with no success.
Believe it or not, I sat down to read this thread and as soon as I got to the end, I turned around and saw my first Oriole sitting on the hummingbird feeder!!!
Do the oriole feeders need to be out in the open? I have the hum. feeder in the open and the oriole feeder hanging from a tree.
Martha

Oh my! That was the female, now the male is feeding also!! I'm going to run out and buy another hummingbird feeder so the hummingbirds won't have to share! Maybe another shepherd's crook too, for more!!

I put up a feeder and two hanging baskets with attractive flowers the other day. We've had a pair visit-mostly the female. She actually perches on my shepherd's crook- now I am keeping my camera close by. I had never seen a hummingbird sit still until this past weekend!

Hi all,

As an update, hummingbirds did show up the next day. In fact, for a day or two there was a fight between two dominate male hummingbirds attempting to claim the territory of the feeder. Apparently they got that settled and now one group of hummingbirds uses the feeder and I don't know what happened to the other group. Perhaps they are using a neighbor's feeder.

I was under the impression that there was only one species of hummingbird here in Maine, but apparently there are more than one. My wife reported seeing a black hummingbird with a red and white throat, and today I saw it a couple of times. The hummingbirds we had been seeing are an iridescent green over black. Apparently two hummingbird species can share the same feeder without fighting.

MM

Martha,

" I'm going to run out and buy another hummingbird feeder so the hummingbirds won't have to share! "

I've been thinking of getting another hummingbird feeder. I particularly like the design of the Wildbirds Unlimited feeder, which is designed to keep bees and ants out of the nectar and is easy to clean, both inside and out. It's made of polycarbonate plastic, which makes it very durable. Based on the Hummingbirds.net feeder article, it is very similar to the HummZinger feeders which they recommend. It's possible that the Wildbirds Unlimited feeder is made for them by the HummZinger people.

Since our nearest Wildbirds Unlimited store is in Rockport, I may just order a HummZinger Ultra feeder that is made by Aspects, Inc. The "Ultra" feeder is their newest model and has both an ant moat and something to keep flying insects (bees, wasps) out of the nectar. They also make a separate Oriole feeder. I don't know whether we have Orioles, so that's just something for me to think about.

MM

My hummers come at 5 and 6 in the morning and sunset(at work then) I'm not always up so early what time do they go to other feeders?

re to Mmine Man:
There boy are there Orioles.
they love using the feeder that is a 2x4 with nails down both sides for the oranges to go on and a roof. oops and wooden dowels for perch. At a yard sail the woman had so many and had to go get more oranges

Our hummers also come mainly in the morning and evening, although in this cloudy weather there have been some heavy feeding periods during the day. They will perch on the feeder and drink like little chickens and occasionally drink enough to make bubbles go up in the nectar reservoir.

WesternMaine,

Thanks for the info about the orioles. I will probably get an oriole feeder when budget allows. I will probably get the kind you fill with sugar water rather than the kind you have to buy oranges for.

Lucky for me, I am retired and can be home all day. We moved to Maine from St. Louis in December, 2002, to live with our daughter and son-in-law. They presented us with a grandaughter in 2003.

I'm also quite busy renovating and expanding the gardens. They have about 3½ acres, mostly wooded with native forest. I have felled some trees to make more sun in the main garden. It had a serious shade problem. I still have some more work to do in that area, but the garden is getting a lot more sun now than it was and tomatoes, eggplants, onions, rhubarb, strawberries, and peppers are now growing nicely. Fortunately I don't have to deal with runaway bamboo. Our little grandaughter likes to "help" in the garden. What a joy!

MM

some one said that when the birds are feeding ther little ones the go for the flowers not the feeders. makes sence.
has anyone elce ever herd this?
Maine man
thanks for the follow up. your garden sounds great. if you ever wont to traid some rhubarb for some----bamboo lol
let me know. I thought at first when i moved in that i had rhubarb but it was some other- look a like. the leaves melt into the ground around late july and the smalest stem flower comes up. and did I mention it gets big? v-big. I let it grow for 2 years then said out you go. no room. guess what? it has a big root systom too. I keep plucking and it keeps growing. congrads on the little one. if my sister had not moved your GD and my N might have played together. he would go to M-ymca for D-care, and the discovery museium. have you gone there yet? fun for them.

I better go get a plucken out the weeds and get the lawn mower back from the repair man.just aother bill, thought I finished them this morninglol there never done kindof like gardening.