Several months ago I was talking to a team member here at MMD, who was telling me about something she loves. Like, LOVES loves. She went into great detail about how much she loves this extremely specific thing, until she caught herself and sheepishly said, I think I’ve gotten a little carried away.
(No, I can’t tell you more about that conversation, because I’m hoping she’ll write about her unreasonable love for it here on the blog one day!)
I told her not to apologize: I like that energy! I admire when someone professes deep and abiding love for something that might seem like no big deal to others, that not everyone “gets.” I love it when someone reveals themselves to be a raving fan of something I haven’t ever given much thought to myself. And it got me thinking about what not-quite-obvious things I could get carried away about.
I am deeply attached to highly specific things I love: index cards, sticky notes (especially the ginormous ones meant to stick to the wall), Pentel Pearl Tradio EnerGel needle tip pens, key lime pie ice cream. A window seat at the local bakery, a three-hour coffee with an old friend, the welcome whisper of a cool breeze that occasionally slices the humid air on a warm summer evening.
These things are not universally loved, but my love for them is widely understood. They feel obvious; they’re not unique. When I discuss them publicly (or talk about them here in this space) I see the glimmer of recognition in people’s eyes.
But I think this next thing is offbeat enough to count: I’d like to profess my devotion to an unattractive $9 piece of plastic that, when I’ve mentioned it to others in the past, has been far more likely to be greeted with a polite nod (or blank stare) than mutual understanding or a gushing I know, right?!
What is this piece of plastic that’s worthy of such devotion? I’m glad you asked. It’s a bird feeder, and I am a raving fan.
My story begins in 2014 when we moved out of our longtime first home into a new one a mile away, whose previous owners had lavished time and attention on a small backyard garden. They’d planted a big butterfly bush, a gorgeous wisteria canopy, and cheerful yellow lilies all within steps of the back door.
Within days of moving in we saw our first hummingbird. I’ve always been charmed by them, but hadn’t known we had any in the area. I’d lived nearby for years and had never seen one! That first sighting took us by surprise and felt like pure magic.
The tiny birds didn’t come to visit as often as I would have liked, but they came regularly. I know humans supposedly acclimate to good things and don’t enjoy them as much with exposure, but let me tell you, I relished every single hummingbird sighting.
But then the next year, poof, they seemed to be gone. We barely saw any.
When my sister-in-law came from out-of-town for a visit, I bemoaned the loss of our hummingbirds. She didn’t share my bafflement about their disappearance; instead, she asked if I’d tried an inexpensive hummingbird feeder. She’d found one for $9 online, and it seemed to work for her.
I placed my order, hung the feeder, and suddenly we had hummingbirds everywhere, all the time. And all these years later we still do. That is, we do as long as we keep it filled with (homemade) nectar, which is my least favorite part of this whole operation, but is still well worth the effort to keep those tiny birds coming to visit.
Every time someone in my family spies one at the feeder we yell “hummingbird!” and we all come running. (Okay, that’s no longer as true as it used to be; eight years later the kids no longer dash from three rooms away for a sighting like they used to. But Will and I still scurry to the window to catch a glimpse every time.)
In our current home, the feeder hangs at eye level outside the kitchen window, near a viburnum they seem to love, and I’m likely to spy the little birds while I’m doing dishes or making lunch. There are probably more attractive ways to lure hummingbirds to my yard than my old $9 feeder, but I’m hesitant to mess with something I know works, and works well.
My bird feeder is old and grimy and I absolutely love it: this little $9 piece of plastic has brought me oodles of quotidian happiness over many years now, and I’m grateful. More than that: I’m a raving fan.
How do you feel about hummingbirds and their feeders? Can you think of something YOU love that is unique and offbeat and not universally beloved? Tell us in comments!
109 comments
Every time I hang one of those, I get more wasps than birds. So I don’t hang one anymore. But I have hanging baskets of purple petunias, and the hummingbirds come for those. I love seeing them, too.
Purple petunias sounds even better to me!
We have petunias, but no hummingbirds. I put out bird food every morning and have a daily crowd of cardinals, robins and sparrows, and less welcome blue jays and squirrels.
In books, I’m finishing “Mourning Lincoln.”
We love our hummingbird feeder as well (although ours is a pretty green glass one)! We have made our backyard into a pollinator friendly environment for hummingbirds, butterflies and bees. We love bird watching and our summer joy is putting out dry mealworms on the deck railing while we eat dinner and watch the family of bluebirds come to eat. The papa bluebird seems to listen to me when I talk to him!
Those summer evenings sounds glorious! And now I’m thinking I could investigate feeder options that are actually pretty …
One year I forgot to put the feeder on the porch and as I was standing at the sink a hummingbird came and flew back and forth in front of the window until I finally put the feeder back on it’s hanger, you can bet I never forgot their feeder again.
Oh my goodness!
I have a lifelong love for hummingbirds, so much so that I had two of them tattooed on my forearm when we lived in a part of the world where I learned about incredible local birds but where hummingbirds do not dwell. I missed seeing them. We have recently moved back to Canada and when making a shopping list of items to purchase for our home, I put a hummingbird feeder at the very top of that list. Priorities, right? It’s the small things — in every sense of the world, in this case — that bring such immense joy!
Katia, I’d love to see that tattoo! And yes, it’s the small things. 🙂
I live for mid-April in New England when I put out the hummingbird feeder! No lie- usual within 1/2 hour we have our first sighting. They are a joy to watch as I have my morning coffee.
We can’t keep a hummingbird feeder because we just feed wasps.
Here is something I love – the energy-saving sensor lights in the freezer section of the grocery store. Our local store installed them when my daughter was little. She loved walking down the aisle and watching the lights come on as she walked. She called it The Princess Aisle. She is a grown-up married lady now, but she still calls freeze aisles that. I smile whenever I am the first one down the aisle and all the lights turn on for me as I stroll by.
That is SO cute! I love it!
The Princess Aisle, I love it!! What a wonderful small thing to appreciate.
We cannot feed birds in Connecticut. Bird feeders of any kind attract bears.
Oh no! I wouldn’t have a bird feeder either if that were the case here.
Ahhh….I can’t help but be reminded of The Ramblers by Aiden Donnelly Rowley. One of the main characters, Clio, is an ornithologist who studies hummingbirds. It centers around three 30-something characters in NYC who learn to let go of their pasts to become their own selves. I really enjoyed the book.
I didn’t know that about The Ramblers. Thanks for sharing, Julie!
I have two and I’m continuously mesmerized by them!! I have so many that I’m constantly refilling my feeder! They’ll only be here another month or so!!
We’re enjoying hummingbird season while it lasts!
Our hummingbirds love the trumpet vine and bee balm in our gardens. It’s such fun to watch them in the summer!
The hummingbirds’ gift by Sy Montgomery is a treasure. I hesitate to recommend it to anyone because I think they will think I’m crazy. It is about a woman who rescue’s hummingbirds and the work and devotion it involves .
I haven’t read this yet but I clearly need to!
Oh yes you do!!! A perfect ode to the tiniest of beings.
Yes! My stepmom gave a copy to me after we had a hummingbird’s nest on our porch. It’s a delight.
Oh, this sounds like a title to investigate. Thanks Diane.
This is one of my favorite books about Hummingbirds.
Just a bit of my thoughts from my GoodReads page:
“If you have ever been mesmerized by the behavior of this jewel of a bird this is a story not to be missed. I thought I knew a lot about hummers but I learned so much in this less than 100 page gem. From its dedication “To mothers everywhere, who understand” to its last page it was not only delightful but also an insightful read as told by Sy Montgomery.”
I had started reading The Glitter In the Green: In Search of Hummingbirds by Jon Dunn (found at my local library) and was loving it so much, I bought it. Ha, haven’t read it yet but know I will.
I have 3 feeders, and always get excited to see those little birds hovering over them. I’m seeing fewer this summer than usual, so when one is at the feeder, it is a big event for me.
I hang hummingbird feeders out every year and anxiously await for their first arrival. Unfortunately, this year I’ve only had 2 that came for a brief feeding and left. I’ve made homemade nectar, bought special vitamin enhanced nectar, cleaned them out every other day and still I’ve only seen two this year. In previous years, I couldn’t keep count of the number that came to our feeders. Our neighbors have noticed the same decline. We’re wondering where all the hummingbirds are this year! Maybe the Canadian wild fires and air quality have kept them away from us. Anyway, I absolutely understand the joy of hummingbird feeders and watching the beauty of nature everyday!
Kim, fingers crossed they come back in droves next year!
I too am in love with the hummingbirds!! I purchased a feeder from this Etsy store last year and it hands right on the window and THEY LOVE IT!!! It’s more than $9, but it’s worth the amazing joy!!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SweetFeeders
Thank you for the recommendation!
My mom always has a hummingbird feeder and I have such great memories watching for hummingbirds when I was growing up.
As for something unique that I love … I love novelty keychains. I collect them when we travel. I have one from Sacramento with a penny in it and a sparkly pink moose from Canada, amongst others.
Lisa, just thinking about your novelty keychain collection brings me joy!
Our whole family has been avid hummingbird feeders for many years. My favorite hummingbird story is sitting by my in-laws’ pool. My lovely mother-in-law, Lola, was wearing a bright floral bathing suit with big red flowers. All of the sudden, a hummingbird dove in and went right for the blossoms on her bathing suit!! Surprising for Lola and probably the hummingbird!!!
Oh my goodness!! Now THAT is a moment you’ll never forget!
My mom had a similar encounter while wearing a red shirt on a Rocky Mountain camping trip when I was young. It’s a fun memory.
Hummingbirds do love the color red! On the first day (or few) we hang out feeder each year, we also drape a large red piece of cloth over the balcony railing to advertise to hummingbirds.
They also like the trumpet-shaped Penstemons in our front landscaping. I planted them specifically for the hummers!
Every spring I hang a window mount feeder on my breakfast nook window. They arrive on schedule April 14 or 15 each year! Watching them brings me such joy.
Margaret, I love that you know the exact date they arrive. 😁
They are amazing. You can set your calendar by them!
Yes!’ Hummingbirds are so amazing!! Now you need an upside down finch feeder – they are so much fun too / and you do have finches in Louisville!!
I LOVE the finches that occasionally pay us visits and I didn’t realize I could get a special feeder for them!
I totally understand you! I moved to the PNW 3 years ago (in the summer of 2020) to be near our newborn twin grandchildren. Everything is way different than it was in California. We live near a lake, and there is wildlife! We have a pair of bald eagles that live in a nest outside our window. Every time I spot them hunting or flying, I yell, “Eagle!”. I never tire of this. Nature is a wondrous thing!
Amazing!
My hummingbird feeder is right outside my kitchen sink window, so I love the show when doing dishes! The hummers also love my blue salvia guaranitica … when I’m in the garden near those plants I often come eye to eye with one of them. They are awesome! My parents had two in their back yard about 50 feet apart, and the hummingbirds would zoom back and forth. I also plant purple verbena bonairiensis, a tall thistle like flower, because the goldfinches like to “ride” on top and sway in the breeze. I swear, it is hard not to believe in a higher power when you see the beautiful yellow birds swaying atop the purple flowers. Yes, I am a garden nut.
Sue, I love watching the goldfinches behave exactly as you share! I too, am a gardener, birder, reader. . .I think these things go hand in hand! 🙂
I too am a reader, gardener, and birder. I recently finished an audiobook, My Wild Garden, by Meir Shalev. His garden is in Israel. It was a joy to listen to while gardening or going for a walk. He paints a vivid picture with his words and made me look around at my world and notice more details. I want to purchase the print copy to add to my garden books collection because of the illustrations.
No picture? You’re so good with a camera! Love the post. Thanks!
I don’t have the lenses to photograph the actual hummingbirds, and I wasn’t kidding when I said the feeder was unattractive! 😂
I am a birder at heart and LOVE watching “my” (wild) birds in the yard. I recently moved from SoCal to the Phoenix area, and am adjusting to the recent 110 degrees+ 3 week spell, and what I can attract to my yard! I have 2 hummer feeders that here, the gila woodpeckers and other birds love in addtion to the hummers and orioles! Locals say these “other” birds are a definite “problem” at the sugar feeders! I now have quail (and their chicks!) and a roadrunner and cottontails visit my ground water station. Anne, if you add a water fountain with moving water, you will attract so many different birds, and it is so FUN to watch the hummers bathe! Try a local Wild Birds Unlimited in your area. . .a great source of info and fun things to buy! I stand by my inexpensive Perky Pet Home Depot glass hummer feeder. Birders and readers, unite! LOL!
My backyard wishlist is getting long …
I know woodpeckers can be so destructive but I can’t help but get excited every time I see one. Perhaps it is a carryover from my love of the Woody Woodpecker cartoons of my youth.
I remember the first time I saw a hummingbird up close; instant fan! The fluttering that seems to me a cross between a bird and an insect is so mesmerizing. Lately I’ve been smitten with my foam spray dish soap and those Swedish, compostable dishcloths. (My sister introduced me to the soap, and I gifted her the dishcloths. We can’t stop talking about how they elevate a very tedious chore!)
Who couldn’t use a little more joy when it comes to dishwashing? (Now come on over and wash your dishes with your special dish soap and Swedish dishcloths in front of the hummingbird window!)
Yes to Swedish dishcloths! I love them.
Please clean your feeder! It should not be grimy! Feeders should be emptied and cleaned every 2-3 days.
Homemade nectar recipe: 1 part plain sugar to 4 parts water. NO RED DYE! The feeder is red enough and the dye is harmful to the hummers. Do NOT use honey or brown sugar! It will clog their beaks and tongues.
A flat feeder can help reduce wasps and bees…and even orioles.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019Y0YCA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
Hummers also eat insects. You can watch them “hawk” insects when they land on a branch and briefly fly off and back.
Hummers also eat insects.
I, too, love hummingbirds and was lucky to have a garden at my old house where they came, on schedule, every day. But the most mesmerizing sight of hummingbirds I’ve ever experienced was at a resort I once stayed at in Santa Barbara. Near the outdoor restaurant there was a tree covered in flowers—I don’t know what kind—that was swarmed by hundreds, if not thousands, of hummers. I had no idea so many hummingbirds could inhabit one area but a bonus to the tree was the constant visits they would pay to the flowers right next to my table. I have no memory of what I ate that day but that lunch was one of the most enchanting of my life.
Hummingbirds love fuchsia flowers. i have mine in windowboxes and they continue to thrive through the fall…
Great tip!
I have few flowers in my yard but Fuchsia, and Petunia always attract those Hummingbirds, these hanging near our feeders. They visit both the plants and the feeders.
This year my daughter gave me a variety hanging plant with small yellow flowers. This, I don’t know what it is, but it a winner with the hummers.
I’ve hung several feeders but they don’t seem to attract the hummingbirds for some reason. I’ll definitely be checking out homemade nectar! Thankfully, hummingbirds are plentiful in my area and they love our buddleia bushes (also known as butterfly bush). Sometimes when I’m sitting on our patio, hummingbirds will come up to me and hover like tiny helicopters right in front of my face. It’s beyond delightful!
No feeders in our yard but lots of hummingbirds. When I’m at the pool I can watch them diving in and out of the flowers and bushes. Actually, it’s fun to watch and listen to all the birds.
I love my hummingbird feeder as well. I have a beautiful glass one with swirls of color but this year the feeder has ended up on the ground (not broken thankfully)and the food is gone. Not only that but something pulled the metal flowers off. We ended up getting an Tactacam to see what was going on. Put up a plastic feeder and found out that our culprit is a raccoon. The Tactacam not only captured the raccoon but a bystander was watching as well. It was a female deer. Still enjoy the feeder but now the camera is bringing me delight as well. We have a parade of cats at night that walk on the sidewalk, deer and raccoons. So much fun!
Here in eastern Maine, they come on or about May 9-11 every year! I have had every kind of feeder, glass fancy ones with rubber stoppers (lost the stopper) many-holed ones with perches (the perches broke off), expensive one and cheap ones, and I tell you, this year the two that have survived are the Dollar Store plastic ones that cost $1! Going strong! Some years we have horrible wasp and ant infestations at the feeders, but this year, no. They are pretty much unmolested. The hummers were thick at first; lately, I haven’t seen as many, but any time outside, and we hear their buzzzzzz as they dive bomb by. They say to put one feeder on either side of your house, because they get in such territorial wars…. And we met a woman from Estonia who had never seen hummingbirds before, they don’t have them, and wow, was she entranced. She had put up about 5 feeders on her back porch and every visitor, especially from her homeland, had to come see the hummers.
That’s so interesting about having multiple feeders—thanks for the tip!
I have had hummingbird feeders for many, many years in two separate locations in my backyard, because I usually have a territorial bully in the mix. My only problem has been keeping the small feeding holes free from mold. It develops very quickly here in California. A few years ago I discovered that Dollar Tree sells feeders very similar to the one you have. I but 10 of them every Spring and when a feeder gets difficult to clean, I replace it for $1.
I’ve purchased mine at Dollar Tree, too! And that feeder gets way more activity than my more expensive feeder.
As an aside, if you love birds and you happen to like board games, do try Wingspan. Such a fun and beautiful game!
We lived in Quito, Ecuador for three years and had an ugly, inexpensive feeder outside our kitchen window. The most beautiful sword-billed hummingbird(s) would come and feed there and I felt like the luckiest person ever. They are so beautiful and so unique! There were also some gorgeously coloured hummingbirds in the jungles.
Amazing!
We live on the CT shore line. We have had a hummer feeder for 29 years! I know about the home made nectar mess. They disappear early fall. The feeders come in and are cleaned. Early the following spring, like clockwork, they arrive before the feeders are out. How do they know? Are the the same birds or their progeny? We love them but are they territorial! Anne, I know you know where we are. We are 4 towns down from Madison, CT. The home of the beloved R J Julia bookstore.
How DO they know? And I just love your little string of Connecticut coastal towns. I hope I get to come visit again one day!
I don’t have a feeder any more but I planted a pollinator garden and they come to it. I get equally excited about monarch butterflies. They used to be so common and I maybe see 10 or 12 a summer now. The other thing that never gets old for me is seeing loons at the lake. Hubs and I will stop whatever we are doing for a loon. Even just hearing a loon call makes me so happy.
Loon calls also make me happy! Maybe it’s the Canadian in me, but it’s one of those sounds that just hits a primal note in my soul. There’s a gorgeous lake we visit in Jasper where we heard loons all the time and it brings me so much joy.
I love little hummers, too!
I live on a small island off the west coast of Canada. We have Anna’s hummingbirds year round, and Rufous hummingbirds as a migratory species, arriving each year when the red flowering currant bushes and salmon berries begin to bloom. They leave again before autumn to begin their long journey back to Mexico.
Feeding these little friends continues year round. It is such a joy to see them feeding near the window in December!!
I love this and 💯 relate! We have a simple bird feeder that sticks to our window and it’s busy with different types of birds all day long. They often come in pairs and my kids have named them. They still run over to say “hi” to Benny & Jenny (Cardinals), Monty & Rose (Blackcap Chickadees), Lilah & Larry (Blue Jays), and Fatso & Skinny Man (Robins).
I laughed out loud when I read this and my husband wanted to know what was so funny. I am a hummingbird fanatic as well. No one else in my family is and they all think I’m a little nuts. I have told them that when I am old and all gums, just put me in front of hummingbird feeders in a rocking chair.😂
The thing I love that other people just “don’t get” is bookmarks. I have a box for bookmarks that I collect. I also have a little ceramic container and I’ll fill it with bookmarks and put it next to my stack of books to be read. I’m using a shark bookmark now. Yes. I am a bit of a bookmark nerd. I do have a hummingbird feeder as well.
Loribelle, I for one would love to check out your bookmark box!
Anne, I love that you love your good old fashioned feeder! The hummers love the red color. We get them all year around here in the PNW, and my husband thinks they are his other children! When we do occasionally get a frost, he is immediately thawing out their nectar, etc., making sure they have what they need. We have feeders all over the place, and our kitchen looks like a nectar making factory lol!
The thing I “rave” about is having chickens! I had wanted chickens for a long time and thought it would be fun and I’d enjoy the fresh eggs. Little did I know how much joy they would bring to our lives! We finally got 6 chickens, as one day old chicks, in the Spring of 2021 . My husband was supportive, but not super interested…until we got the chicks! We both adore the chickens and my husband is super involved. The chickens are smarter than we thought they would be and definitely have distinct personalities. They are so funny – they know us and they follow me around. Our kitchen window overlooks their large outdoor run, and my husband I will just stand at the window and watch “chicken tv”. (And their eggs are delicious – so much better than grocery store eggs!) If the topic of chickens comes up it’s hard to get me to stop raving about how great having backyard chickens are!
We have hummingbirds at my parents cottage and earlier in June when the feeder wasn’t up where it usually hangs in the summer we had multiple hummingbirds come by the windows and doors and “stand” there making one of their chirping noises to let us know it was time for their feeders to be out! We quickly made some food and have kept them fed since then 😂 We also have lots of petunias, lavender and coneflowers and bee balm now in case we heaven forbid slack in the feeder filling
Dressed my Littles (grandkids) in all red from head to toe. They sat oh, so still and quietly with hummingbird feeders poised right in their laps. Hummingbirds came to them ! It was a magical moment for all of us that we will never forget!
Whoa!
LOL- I thought there would be a bunch of recs for quirky things that bring people inordinate amounts of joy. Turns out everyone wants to talk about hummingbirds! 😀
I am allergic to bees & wasps so I’m a little nervous to hang a feeder. Also, I have two indoor/ outdoor cats who are … unkind to birds so I’d feel bad hanging up a feeder luring more birds to our yard.
I have a cherry pitter that I really like! It’s a fun little gadget that is fun to say and use.
Haha! I love my apple corer. I eat a lot more apples since I bought it. A much less messy snack.
Hilary, this reminds me of the cherry pitter I had as a teen. I made the best pies. 🙂 Thanks for the great memory!
I just saw a hummer this morning, checking out my salvia – we always hear them flying around but I’m rarely quick enough to spot them. I have a hummingbird feeder, but…it’s sitting in the garage, dry and lonely. I just haven’t had time to make nectar, and I’m terrible about remembering to change it, so it hasn’t happened this summer.
My mother had a hummingbird feeder. Her grand children loved running to see them almost as much as her. She’s been gone 22 years now. We had a hummingbird engraved on her headstone. They are a wonderful way to remember her.
And now……they are $22 on Amazon. 😂 But I’m sure worth every penny.
I was just about to post that. Inflation is no joke!
That price seems to be for a pack of two, but it’s still more expensive than it was back in the day!
This post completely jogged my memory about ladybugs! When we lived in Southeastern WA State, there were a few days in the spring when we’d come outside to find literally THOUSANDS of them all over the outside of our house. It was crazy how many! We lived there for 4 years until my kids were in 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades so this was a time of year they all looked forward to. When will the ladybugs arrive??? It never got old. I wonder if anyone here knows what I’m talking about or why it occurs…we just thought it was magical! We all decided to informally name that house Ladybug Landing 🙂
I love hummingbirds too, and have five feeders of different kinds in my yard. None are for the little hummingbirds though because they have attracted ants every time I’ve tried.
But I do have favorite things that no one seems to love as much as I do. My grandfathers on both sides were craftsmen and I have somethings they made that I love. One item is a hand carved white marble bible that the stonecutter grandfather (whom I never met) carved and the other is a hand made Parchesi set made by my maternal grandfather. Both are treasures to me and others admire them, but I LOVE them!
My parents have been feeding hummingbirds for years and we still get excited to see them. This year they added a bird bath to their backyard and we enjoy watching the squirrels jumping up for a drink and the birds splashing in the water. Now that I’m back home after a visit to their house I need to find our hummingbird feeder so I can add that joy to my daily life.
My in-laws have several hummingbird feeders and it’s always so much fun to watch the birds flit back and forth between them. I’ve planted a lot of pollinator plants in my own garden and have seen hummingbirds come by over the years, especially to the brightly coloured flowers in my hanging baskets. We also bought a couple of bird feeders to hang from our trees this year and are really enjoying watching so many birds come to visit. I’m trying to learn the names of all the birds but it’s a challenge (I grew up in a place where we routinely had seagulls and pigeons and not much else!) The only birds I don’t enjoy as much are the magpies, who make a sport of swooping near our dog and squawking at her when she tries to catch them.
I live in the Phoenix area; we are fortunate to get a variety of hummingbirds year-round. We also get gila woodpeckers at the feeders. We have dubbed them “hummingpeckers” 🙂
I too have a special fondness for hummingbirds. My mom was a birder and hummers were her favorite. She’s been gone 30 years now but I still think of her when I see a hummingbird. When I was young, we would sit on the porch swing together and watch the tiny things fight over my mom’s feeder. Birds of all kinds migrate through where I now live and some hummingbirds will stay here year-round if they have a constant food supply. As a result my husband and I have landscaped with plants that attract them. Seeing one of these birds or hearing one buzz by my head is always a delight. One caution about your ‘grimy’ feeder: if it truly is dirty, then it should be cleaned every few days and when you add fresh nectar. Bacteria and mold can be harmful to the birds. 🙂
Our kitchen window looks out onto the front porch and beyond that, to my front flowerbeds, where I have hydrangeas, butterfly bushes, coneflowers, roses, and of course, a hummingbird feeder. It’s a joy to see them, but I haven’t seen as many this year as we normally do. It’s definitely time to clean the feeder and make a new batch of nectar…
I love my hummingbird feeder, too! We also have blue herons that can be found at the ponds nearby. I am always announcing bird sightings. It brings me great joy to see these birds, though my family tends to not be as enthusiastic.
I love mockingbirds and there are so many in my neighborhood. There are some that I see quite often flying around when I walk the dog. I am still in high school, so when I tell my friends about how happy this makes me, they will often be slightly confused. I should definitely get a bird feeder. Does anyone have an recommendations?
We live in rural New Mexico. Love our hummingbird feeder. Also put out a seed block which attracts a lot of other kinds of birds. Simple but exquisite pleasures!!
Check out birdladydrin on IG for her hummingbird obsession!
My parents have been longtime feeders of the tiny birds and after losing my mom last winter, my dad has tirelessly continued this summer and it has literally helped him grieve. He gets so excited to see each one and swears they are the same ones that return to their house each summer. It has brought me joy to hear my dad talk about them, and to see them when I visit. It’s as though my mom is there with us.
Do you buy a prepared liquid for the feeder? Or buy it?
We just make a sugar syrup on the stovetop. (If you have a plastic feeder like we do, it’s important to let the solution cool before pouring it into the feeder!)
We love our hummingbirds too! I have two feeders in the backyard and two in the front yard, which have led to hosting two nests in the last few months. We kept a #hummingbirdwatch update on my Instagram account, haha. My husband even did a little rescuing when the recent hummingbird babies needed some saving. It was really sweet to watch them grow and finally leave their tiny nest.
I love a good checklist, and recently receiving ARCs in the mail – thankfully my husband thinks my happy dances are endearing, ha!
My parents have always had a hummingbird feeder, so when I bought my first house (about 15 years ago) I bought a feeder too; it wasn’t even a question, I thought that’s just what you did. A couple days later it had ants, so I overacted and threw it out. But then I bought a seed bird feeder and have been in love ever since. It now hangs outside the window by the breakfast nook and my husband and I alert each other to activity on the bird feeder. And if a bird that we cannot identify stops by, the Birds of Alabama book is on the buffet, right by the window. Such a delight!
I always try hanging out feeders a little too early. I’ve tried March & July; but here in the Houston area they show up late August & sometimes stick around into October.
We have two feeders and they like them both, but tend to go for the one with the yellow flowers on the openings. I use homemade nectar: 1 part sugar to 4 parts water, brought to a boil to dissolve and then cooled.
In this heat, I am changing the water every 4 days. I learned early on the more frequently you change the water, the less likely the feeder is to get yucky & easier to clean. I have an old mascara brush that fits in the feeder openings.
We do not have quite as many this year yet as in past years. I bought a shrimp plant and some sort of sage which they are not at all interested in.
Ours hang on a small tree we have just outside our patio door off our breakfast area, so we can observe them from where we sit at the table.
I just love them!!!!!
I have a fountain in the garden that is in my window view from the kitchen and that seems to be the meeting place for the hummingbirds throughout the day. I can completely relate to your excitement and joy of seeing these little birds and hearing them engage in their melodic conversation.