Most people, upon first moving to the desert, are in for a lot of unpleasant surprises. Even I, who had been in a desert or two before moving to the high desert permanently, had quite a learning curve at first and still find things to learn. One of the more delightful positive surprises is how full of hummingbirds the desert is.
Hummingbirds have roughly the same aerodynamics, ecological niche and brain power as bumblebees. They’re attracted to anything red. For example…
I hung this live trap outside the powershed just to get it out of the way. The peanut butter jar cap I use for a bait cup is never lonely. And the birds never seem to figure out what the problem is.
At the RV trailer I lived in for the first five years, I put up a hummingbird feeder and they did not disappoint. Somehow here at the cabin I never got around to it. Maybe it’s just because here in the hollow there are more flying bugs, less steady breeze to keep the bugs at bay, and thus less incentive to sit around outside. I have a lawn chair somebody else cast off, but before this summer I seldom used it. So there wasn’t much point in attracting hummingbirds.
The new porch – and a really dry year that cut down on the bugs – at least temporarily changed that, and from the start I planned to get a couple of big hooks and at least one feeder. It’s why I left the corner post long.
Yesterday I installed the hooks and boiled up some nectar (4 parts boiling water to one part sugar, stir till fully dissolved and allow to cool. Easy peasy and cheap.) Didn’t figure it would take long for customers to arrive.
The second hook will either be for a second feeder – because the best free entertainment in the desert is a fair of male hummingbirds battling each other to exhaustion over more feeders than they really need – or possibly a try at a solar-powered bug zapper. I’m a little concerned, though, about that second choice because a) a solar bug zapper probably doesn’t really have enough amperage to be useful, and b) that close to the feeder the hummingbirds are liable to confuse the two and demonstrate another way they’re just like bumblebees. So probably a second feeder.
Got myself some of those solar zappers after seeing your post the other week. They don’t give the satisfying “ZZAAAPPPP!!!” of the household voltage items, but they do work. And they’re not an issue for your hummingbirds unless those tweeties fly around at night – the lights, whether UV or white, only come on when it’s dark. During daylight, they zap nothing. In fact, when I walk past the one in my front yard during the day, lizards come scurrying out, unhappy about being disturbed while they’ve been dining on crispy skeeters!
Enjoy the birds! When we lived in the forest I had 8 feeders out and they were all always busy. I loved seeing them and hearing them. Here in town, even tho we’re well treed and a little bit off the beaten track, NO HUMMINGBIRDS. Major disappointment.
The photos you posted were very nice. I love watching humming birds in action and you are right, they do provide some of the best free shows around.
We were a little late putting up the humming bird feeders this year. I had totally forget about it until one morning a few weeks ago. We were having coffee and watching the butterflies when we were suddenly dive bombed by one of the humming birds. So after coffee, I went, got the feeders, made nectar and put everything out. Now we get to watch the aerobatics and dogfights between the hummingbirds and the bumblebees. It is great entertainment. .
Just curious —has it crossed your mind that as you approach the Suburbia Singularity, you may be turning into one of the people you left civilization to get away from? It all looks great, tho!
Hummingbirds are fun to watch! Love your new addition to the Lair !
We started the hummingbird feeder thing a few years back.
The cute little buggers communicate in some fashion and soon we were thronged with the still cute, but now semi-aggresive little cuties.
A few elected to winter over. It was a cruel existence.
The next season our sugar supply deminished at a suprisingly rapid rate.
They got very aggresive if a feeder ran dry and you were in the process of refilling.
We decided to end the experiment and just enjoy them on the blooms of the flowers so they would not be enticed into staying through the winter and suffering.
Plus those little demons required a LOT of sugar!