The Hummingbirds are here!

If you dont have hummingbirds yet this year you soon will! Check out the map link below to see if the hummer are being reported close to you! Our feeder went out just a few days ago, we should have put it up sooner. This years plants are doing well and should be out in a few weeks.

Hummingbirds map
Our Cuphea Ignea plants didnt do well this winter, by the first of March I had two still in water. They were doing fine until I planted them, they both died in just a few days. The wife has a couple at work and they were doing ok. I hope to be able to take cuttings from these plants but that may not be in time for the hummers. Its looking like a trip to Ohio for another batch of Cuphea Ignea plants this year!

Interesting reading.

Last season was a bust! I found employment in West Lafayette and moved five times in nine months. The Cuphea Ignea plants did well but I didnt have much time to spend on the blog or with the hummingbirds.

This year I'm kind of back in the same boat, unemployed sending out resumes in about 100 mile radius so who knows where I will wind up this year?!?! I will try to keep things going on this blog and the new one I just started  last week, Indiana Raptor Watch.

I came across this posting on one of the other pages that I follow. Its about hummingbirds so I though somebody reading this blog might be interested.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=2031

Several of the plants for this years Hummingbird Garden have starts and are growing like weeds.

The Cardinal Climber started in only four days, and several of the other plants have sprouted way ahead of schedule!

I believe spraying the planted seeds with warm water may have something to do with the early starts and rapid growth.

Each box holds three trays or thirty plants and acts like a terrarium. Using the McDonalds salad bowls as a small terrarium is a great way to recycle, and they work well! I could have waited a few more weeks to start the plants but I wanted to be sure the process would work. I believe I can call this test a success!

The garden for 2010

Hi all,

The garden for 2010 is well on its way! The Cuphea Igneas are started, Cardinal Climber and Ragin Cajuns have been planted. I tried something, new this year, from a web page I read. They suggested starting your plants using coffee filters. The seeds are placed between a pair of coffee filters and then watered and placed in a large ziplock bag. I suggest if you try this method using a spray bottle to wet your seeds!!! Dont do as I did and try wetting them in the sink! The seeds got wet but not all the seeds placed in the filter stayed in the filters, some are somewhere in the sewer system of this city.

The Cuphea Ignea seeds can be purchased on ebay and are inexpensive, typically about $2.00 for 50 seeds. I hope to have these flowering by the middle to the end of April. We will have NEW PLANTS to try with the Ruby Throats this year. I purchased several packs of seeds from vendors on ebay. Most of the plants I have not seen available from any of the local greenhouses.

As I started to water today I scared off the visiting Ruby Throated Hummingbird. I decided to sit with the camera and video camera after I finished watering. It took a few minutes but the little guy showed up again. He started in the back of the yards trying to feed on Rose Moss. That wasn’t working for him so he quickly moved to the front of the yard just across from where I was waiting with the cameras. I though this was a visitor because he is so spooked by any movement but looking at the picture it just could be the juvenile male that has been here for a few months. With his adult female protector gone I guess it is easy to understand why he might be a little spooked by people moving.

We had two females here all summer and they didn’t get along with each other. One of the females would chase the young male out of the yard. Several times while the young male was being chased the second female would intervene and chase off the first female. The second female and young male would then leave together with no aggression shown. I always thought that once a bird had fledged the adult wouldn’t have anything to do with the sibling.

Time to bust another MYTH!

Its just a few days away from the start of fall and hummingbird activity at the feeders and plants has slowed down. We have four feeders and a host of Hummingbird friendly plants and I believe the two females, that have been at the house all summer, have left and only the juvenile male and the occasional hummer passing by have been seen.

The MYTH is if you leave your feeders out the Hummingbirds will stay. I have lived in Cincinnati and Indianapolis and the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are gone by the first of October. The truth is the adult males leave first, about mid July to the first of August. The adult females leave about mid September and the juveniles are gone by mid October, other parts of the country are different. I will keep my Hummingbird feeders up until the temperatures drop into the 20’s. I also change the mix to a 1:1 mix, one part sugar to one part water. This will give the Hummers passing through a little more energy to make it to the next flower or feeder on their long journey.

I have read on some web sites the Rufous Hummingbirds will come east for the winter. One of the Hummingbird mapping sites had several sightings in Ohio and Indiana of the Rufous Hummingbird in January and February so if its warm enough my feeder will be out with a 1:1 mix to welcome this rare winter time visitor!

Alternatives to artificial hummer food

Ok, you don’t like the idea of making artificial food for your little green friends and you want to beautify your outdoor space with hummer friendly flowers. Here is a list of the flowers I have found the Ruby-throated humming birds like the most. They are listed by most popular to the hummers.

1. Cuphea Ignea A.K.A Cigar plant, Cigar flower, firecracker plant and hummingbird plant.

This plant is by far the most popular with the Ruby-throated hummers that have visited my flowers. The female in the picture above feeds on plants and not at feeders. The Cuphea is the one I see her at the most often. For more information on this plant http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1333/

2. Ipomoea Sloteri A. K. A. Cardinal Climber.

This plant is also very popular with the Ruby-throated hummingbird. A new plant to our garden, this is the second year of growing Cardinal Climber. I try to plant this so it will be in full bloom in time for the adult male migration around the first of August. Cardinal Climber is a vine that needs a long or tall support. For more information on this plant http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/662/

3. Ruellia elegans A.K.A. Raging Cajun

When this plant is in full bloom it is a beautiful sight! Just a few plants can make a wall of red. A Ruby-throated Hummingbird can almost fit its head in the open flower and they often do. The down side to this plant is the flower its self, it falls off after a day or two. The Raging Cajun is the only Petunia the I can say the Ruby-throated Hummingbird will feed on.
For more information on this plant http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/163129/