With all the wind lately some of the liquid has splashed out and today this bird had to share with a wasp all afternoon. Didnt seem to be any problem though between them. Wasps dont usually bother this feeder. But tonight I will clean the feeder again and hopefully solve that problem.



I sure could use a neck massage





Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

I still have my one little migrant as of tonight. Hopefully she will stay put until the week end when the winds die down and the temps warm up a bit. Yesterday when this little one blew in, we had wind gusts up to 67 mph with heavy downpours off and on all day and today I think the gusts were clocked at 61 mph with rain off and on all day and the forcast is similar for tomorrow but with highs only in the mid 50's. The weather is supposed to moderate by Friday and be decent and more seasonable by then mid 60's during the day which will be better for her to travel.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Steve, do you have any records of your last migrant passing thru in the fall?

Penny, sounds like you are getting quite the weather already. Good thing you have your garden/feeders ready for the migrants.



Judy in Zone 6a
Cincinnati (Anderson Twp.)
Southwest Ohio

fairfieldcircle

As a matter of fact, I do. Last year which holds my personal record of having a visitor on Oct 18th. That is not going to happen this year but if I get one or two in early oct I will be happy.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Steve we are about 15-20 degrees below normal right now and the high is going to be barely into the 50's! The bulk of my more tende3r plants in pots came in last evening as I was trying to hose of the white flies (In the rain) before bringing them in so I didn't end up with a house full of bugs. This has not been a good summer at all and fall looks like it may be even worse.

My little one is still here as of this posting. I checked the two test tube feeders that I refreshed yesterday morning just before her arrival at dawn. She had consumed half the nectar in one feeder and about a 3rd. in the other. As close as I could figure out that would be about 2 1/2 teaspoons of nectar in a 28 hr. period using the 3:1 water to sugar ratio. If I were using 4:1 she would probably be drinking more plus I still have a yard full of salvia, agastache, honeysuckle, Cannas, and Cupheas in full bloom.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Penny

We are having similar weather as it didnt get out of the 50s here yesterday, but today and tomorrow it is at least supposed to be in the 60s and mostly sunny which tends to make it seem warmer than it is.

IM wondering what you do with all your potted plants during winter, do you keep some of them in the house or do all stay in the garage once they go dormant. I dont have a lot of potted plants not counting any cuttings I deal with.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Steve
I don't have an attached garage. My garage is separate from the house and it isn't insulated so any plants I put out there would freeze if I just put the ptts in there so anything I want to keep comes into the house. Right now because it is so darn cold my 2 hamelia patens, Hamelia cuprea, Calliandra, David Verity, Cuphea micropetala, 2 shrimp plants, 10 Cuprea schumanii, and 2 Siningia selovii are sitting in front of the french doors in my kitchen. It is supposed to warm to the low 60's here by the week end (hopefully) so I will be able to put them out on the deack at least for a few more days hopefully. I also have Several DV cuttings, 3 S. greggii Furman's Red cuttings, 3 baby Lantana, 2 Salvia greggii Cherry Chief cuttings, and a container full of Cuphea micropetala seedlings in the mini greenhouse on my front porch. To say I need to live in a glass house, move back south or build a heated greenhouse is an understatement. I also have 6 baby Red Yuccas that will have to come inside too or I may be able to put those in a bin buried in some dry peat moss for the winter. I didn't plant them out since something ate the seedlings that I planted out last year. I will give those another year or two in pots begore giving them a permanent inground location. OH I have two crossvine babies that I will plant out this week end. Even though they are quite small they should be fine.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Yep, Same here Steve! Thankfully this year I added an Aster plant to our new garden. My reason initially was as a host plant for a few butterflies and as a late season nectar plant for butterflies. As an added bonus, it has cut down the # of bumble bees that used to swarm our feeders around this time. I was just outside and counted 22 bumble bees on that plant! Along with some Cabbage White and various Skipper butterflies, the plant is covered with bug grub that the birds seem to us as a buffet table at the same time...nature and the life cycle in unison and at it's finest!
Here's a pic from Monday...one of our hummers and a yellowjacket. To me, those are more annoying than bumble bees! The only wasps we get here are the black ones. They only stick around for the duration of the milkweeds blooming...thankfully!


Susan Louise
from Branford CT/ live in Lincoln NE
Zone 5

I saw one on Monday, September 28th, but I've been so busy I haven't had the chance to look much these past couple of days.

We're also having cold weather in western PA, and the past couple of days there were high winds that buffeted my Tithonia, especially. They were so tall, floriferous, and pretty, but now a lot of them are down and looking bedraggled.

My single feeder was empty today, and I'm not sure if it was all that wind or whether I was getting some visitors. I've never had an April hummingbird, and I've also never had an October one. In years past, they've arrived the first week of May, and departed the last week in September.

Here's hoping I'll see my first October bird!

The second picture is too cute!

Joan Garvey - Metairie, LA Zone 9

Kristin--- I too hope you get your first oct hummer

Joan--- Thanks, sometimes you just get lucky, but time is getting short here.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35