Hummingbirds are almost here!

The annual migration of ruby-throated hummingbirds is remarkable, among many remarkable natural history events. The males come first in spring, flying from their wintering grounds in central America. They're scouting out good nesting sites, and establishing territorities, often returning to the same area in North America that they've been before.

One of the ways that I like to follow hummingbird migration is through Journey North's weekly e-mails. Journey North is an excellent 'real-time' website that has K-12 students, teachers, and other interested folks post sightings of hummingbirds, monarchs, and whooping cranes, monitoring their journeys 'north' and 'south,' in addition to lots of other 'cool' stuff.

Their postings this week have hummingbirds spotted in Leesville, SC -- near Aiken, and in Greensboro, GA -- south of Athens. I'm preparing 'nectar' for my feeders right now. 1/4 cup of white sugar per 1 cup of water, boiled and cooled is a perfect fuel for hungry hummingbirds.

I've been meaning to get out the feeders all this week, but now that I know they're cl0se -- it's time to make our garden seem like a really good site for breeding and nesting. It's still early for any of the native nectar plants -- we have some coral honeysuckle in bloom, but that's about it. The males are also using sap from yellow-bellied sapsucker holes; they follow them north in their migration.

Comments

  1. I'm a bit embarrassed to tell you: You've been TAGGED!

    Check it out: http://ruralchatter.blogspot.com/2008/03/six-words.html

    Please consider it a sign of admiration and support...as well as interest in what you might write!

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  2. Well, tagging sounds like fun, and certainly I love the sense of community that those of us with blogs with common themes and interests create -- a delightful benefit of cyberspace!

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  3. Thank you for being so gracious. I do not like outrageous contact from people I do not know...I thought this was fun, from a new cyber-pal very into wildlife. I read your lovely blog regularly...I've a link to it from my own. I hope you do not mind.

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  4. Oh, dear, now I'm going to need to think up a six word haiku to pass on the 'tagging,' And of course I'm delighted if people enjoy reading my thoughts about plants, gardening, and wildlife.

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