Tuesday, May 24, 2016

In About Six Weeks

We should be positively overrun with hummers in about six weeks. We have had a lot of activity, but it is slowing down now, which means that the moms are sitting and incubating their eggs. Once hatched, she will feed the babies a mixture of nectar and tiny bugs. It takes about six weeks for the babies to be ready to leave the nest and come to the feeders. With the activity we have seen in May, the activity beginning in late June should be absolutely fantastic.

Beech Branch Crafts & Art Gallery in Gatlinburg, TN, and Stewart's Village Gallery in Waxhaw, NC, recently received new shipments of Ozarklake feeders.

We did two shows in Utah earlier this month. In between, we were able to visit Salt Lake City, Park City, the Bonneville Salt Flats, the historical air base at Wendover, and all points in between. Even made a little money at the casino in West Wendover, NV. Bill's sister and her husband drove in from Oregon and we had a mini family reunion, too! We had a great time.

We were thrilled to receive this note recently from someone we met in Utah:
I got some of these feeders at a Bird Festival last weekend. I put out a "onesie" yesterday because, according to the internet, hummingbirds should be around this time of year. I put it on my patio door, but I didn't expect to see any since it is under a semi-covered area. Also, I had not seen one single hummingbird yet this year. So I was really surprised to see one slurping away at my Onesie this morning! Thanks so much for all of your information , advice, and for helping me find an easy way to feed the hummers and also see them up close! 
We LOVE getting notes like this one!

We have nowhere to go until the Sedona Hummingbird Festival July 29-31 followed by the Southwest Wings Birding Festival August 3-6. So guess we'll spend the next few weeks taking care of personal things while we wait for our new crop of hummingbirds to show up at the feeders.

Hummingbird fact for today: The tiny nests of ruby-throated hummingbirds may be in hardwoods or evergreens from about three to 60 feet from the ground. Often they are situated in the crotch of in an outer, down-turned branch overhanging water, but there are many exceptions. The nest can be up to a mile or more from a good feeding area.