Day: July 28, 2013

Apparently the new sugar-water is better: they’re sticking around long enough I was able to get pictures. Despite the occasional bit of rain I saw probably half a dozen hummingbirds come through my yard in an hour or two this afternoon. All but one got to eat – it got chased off by a different hummingbird (I think it was a rufous since the picture looks about right and they’re supposed to be aggressive).

The light wasn’t great so I took this picture so the bird would be silhouetted against the brighter sky.

The bird is kind of hard to make out (left side of the feeder), but Dash sure was captivated for a bit.

Talore came over to see why Dash was making noises at the window. The bird is along the top edge of the fence left of the feeder.

I moved the hummingbird feeder from the flowerbed with the hollyhocks (which were largely blocking it) to the one in the middle of the yard. Within fifteen minutes I’d seen two hummingbirds fly up and try it, then flit over to the window where I was standing to glare at me. I gather I need to clean it out and refil it – the internet tells me that hummingbird food (sugarwater) can go bad within a few days if it’s hot, and it has been. Also, rain can get in and dilute it (and it’s been raining) or the feeder can get moldy. On the other hand, the last one I saw try it (today) took several sips before leaving so it must not be too bad.

Now that I have customers it looks like I need to try to take better care of it. Maybe if it gets popular and I let it get empty I’ll manage to get a picture of hummingbirds at the window.