OMG ... GUESS WHAT???

I HAVE A HUMMINGBIRD!!!!

and yes! I am screaming!!! lol

It is all over my purple porterweed and other plants in my yard. And it is perching and guarding it's new territory!

I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED!!! OMG! I have a hummingbird!!! Yay!!!

Can you see me jumping up and down and screaming! After 2 years of planting tons of red blooming and other nectar plants for them .... one has finally shown up! YAY!!

Don't even ask me to take a photo. I don't want to do anything to scare the bird off yet. It looks like a Rubythroat! My dh saw it and couldn't believe it. Plant it and they shall come!!! :-)

I was out in my screen porch and was checking out my backyard as I do every morning and I saw it perched on the phone line that is hanging low in my backyard. I looked and looked again and could feel myself ready to start screaming! But I didn't of course because I didn't want to scare it off. It was perching all around my yard.

It's gone now, but now that it has found my yard, I expect it will come back! The feeders are going up today too! :-) :-) :-) :-)

I HAVE A HUMMINGBIRD!!!! Pinch me! lol

becky, that is fantabulous! i'm so happy for you. mine have all left for the winter.

Congrats ..........

I hope that he also brings his friends !! ............I haven't seen any now for a couple of weeks, but still have a feeder up for the straggling migrant !!

Congratulations! I saw my one and only hummingbird about 12 years ago, feeding off a Mexican Bush sage in my yard. I have been collecting extra red/orange/yellow plants this year for a butterfly/hummingbird garden in the front yard to be put in next spring. Maybe you will bring me luck too!

jordankittyjo...........TAG!!!! your it again!!!!!

Thanks everyone!

Many folks here on this forum have known me for over a year and know how I have tried EVERYTHING to get the hummers to my yard. Some stuff has been pretty ridiculous, too! And they have been hearing me whine about for that long as well. So now everyone can enjoy the fact that I CAN'T whine anymore! LOL! :-D

Happy for you! Plant it and they will come...but takes time sometimes before they notice the virtual "hummingbirds welcome" garden so they can stop by.

It just occured to me that it might be a migrating hummer who was just stopping to eat and rest.

~My bubble just burst!~ lol

I guess I am being greedy and unrealistic by wanting it to stay in my yard! LOL!

This message was edited Nov 4, 2007 3:10 PM

Funny, you plant all that red and you see him on purple porterweed. I actually just planted some of that myself, hmmm... Of course, my resident hawks tend to keep a lot of critters away so I'm not too optimistic about seeing any hummingbirds here. That's so great for you, especially after you haven't had many butterflies either. Hummingbirds are my grandmother's favorite bird, and she collects things with hummingbirds (great-grandma was into owls, not sure how this bird thing started). I'm always giving her gifts of hummingbird items. She used to have a bunch of feeders but she didn't have them out last time I was there. I'll have to ask her about that. I always enjoyed seeing them when I visited her house; you could sit at the kitchen table and look out the window and watch them in the front yard. Congrats!

Melanie - I had just about given up seeing one in my yard and there it was this morning! Hung around my yard for about an hour before it flew off. So .... you just never know! :-) The porterweed is the most popular nectar plant in my yard right now. I have a Monarch hanging around now too. I guess the Migrating birds and butterflies are finally starting to show up here! :-)

Yeah Becky!!!!!! ((((Jumping up an down with you!!!))))) Way to go!! I knew they would find you sooner or later. That is super and well worth waiting and planning for. With all of the plants you still have in bloom, they may not go to the feeders, so keep an eye out.
Sheila_FW

Becky,

they are so fun to watch.

While this was the first year i've seen them in my yard here in IL and in Wisc [though it's my first year up there]
I have seen them plenty. In AZ at my moms and even in Canada at my Uncles. they are so cool. Very territorial -- and the sound their wings make as they are 'buzzin' by is just the coolest.

Terese

Can y'all see me SMILING!!!! I put up 3 feeders today with the hopes that the one Rubythroat I saw today comes back and brings his friends!

I can now officially say that I have seen a hummer IN REAL LIFE!!! Whoo Hoo! :-) :-)

WooHoo Becky!!! I'm so happy for you!

I hope they tell all their friends how wonderful your yard is!

Rox - ROFL! Me, too!

I was hoping that the news was about a hummer!

Congrats!

all right Becky. Jumping for joy for you. I know you are thrilled. I had put my feeders away after not seeing any for 3 weeks now I have 1 back. Really loves the cupheas and put a feeder back out too

becky, i know they are my hummers in your yard. in case they are, they don't like feeders, they like lantana, zinnias, cypress vine andpetunias.
bhaugh- gottcha, now youre it!!!

Congrats, Becky,,,
yes, they love cypress vine the best in my yard.. It is considered a little invasive by some, but I just pull out any I don't want growing. Also they liked the black/blue salvias this year.

Becky........hooray ! And some good news, they say that the birds will remember the following year where they found food at......so next year you should see them again, and maybe it will bring it's family too. Finally ...!

Congratulations on your first hummer, they are so adorable!!! I love to watch them too, they love the
Turk's cap, Malvaviscus drummondii
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/56887

They flock to it, their next most favorite is
Flame Acanthus, Anisacanthus wrightii
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60921

Those are the best for hummers in my garden.
Josephine.

YEAH!! FINALLY!!! Congratulations! That is awesome news, Becky!! I know you've got to be beside yourself now. I'm so happy for you! :)

Great news!! Glad to hear that all your efforts have paid off. You are definetly on their list now.
Congrats!!! :) :) smiling with you!!

chris

Congratulations Becky;,,,

After all this time... absolutely fantastic....

You may end up with a few more as more and more of them keep heading south.... A lot of the Rubies are overwintering in South Florida now.....

....Dave

Congrats, Becky. All of your hard work is now paying off. :-)

Carla

Hey! Hey!
All that work...it paid off! Gosh...doesn't that feel great?? Good for you Becky!! Enjoy em!

Adrienne

I have to get in on this one. Congratulations and then some Becky. I know how hard you have been trying for this. My hummers left about a month ago and you are just now getting them. Good for you and I could not be happier. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy and know now that all that money spent on all those red flowers was money well spent. Have a great time watching the little guy.

Leslie

You never gave up on them. Planting their favorites eventhough you had not seen one, but you never gave up. I so much admire that about you. I'm doing the happy dance for ya!

Y'all are too kind with your words! I am so excited that I actually got to see one in real life. I've been coveting all your birdies in your photos for the past 2 years and planting red flowering nectar plants with that small glimmer of hope! Just goes to show you that if you believe and don't give up ... anything is possible! :-)

I work during the week, so I'm not home to see if the hummer is coming back. He showed up around 10 - 10:30 am the day I saw it! I put out 3 feeders though hoping to entice it and others to come around! We'll see! I am sooo hoping that it sets up territory here so I can watch it and maybe even get a photo or two! I'm just glad my dh saw it too, because they would not have believed me if someone else hadn't witnessed it! :-)

They usually feed early to mid morning like you said and late evening on the feeders. I think it is before the flowers fully open and after they start wilting in the pm. (IMHO) Hope you get to witness them coming again on the weekend for sure.
I can see Becky packing a lunch and sitting out at the new patio all day on hummer watch! LOL!

How wonderful! I'm so happy for you- enjoy the happy dance! I'm so glad your faith has been rewarded after years of pining.

Maggie

Becky,

It takes two or more male Rubythroat males in the area to get them to show their colors. But patience and camera at ready will get a picture like the attached. The sad part for you is that the Rubythroat is literally the only hummer that can be found in the south and south-east part of the U.S. And, they migrate down through Mexico and Central America, putting Florida off of their route. Further, the males and females fly in separate groups. On the plus side, they do migrate in something approaching small groups, generally in the same annual time frame. If you do get some down in lower Florida they may stay and become resident, rather than migrating. So keep the feeders out (and change the nectar often).

Good luck,

Rod

Thanks everyone! I saw the little hummer again today. Around 1:00 in the afternoon. He was nectaring from my Cape Honeysuckle bush and even went to the feeders! YAY! :-) So he is not migrating further south but instead hanging around. But he doesn't stay in my yard. Apparently my house is just on his meal path. Hopefully that will change and this bird or others will find my yard appealing enough to set up territory. And maybe even nesting grounds! I can dream, right?! :-) LOL!

Rod - Yes! I have heard that Rubythroats are pretty much the main hummers in Florida. Though a few other species have been seen in Florida also. Seems more and more are migrating to Florida each year instead of South America. Global warming, more people gardening for hummers and butterflies, etc. I don't know. But our local Wally-world sells lots of hummingbird feeders every year! I suspect that mine is a young bird. And I am assuming it is a male. I can't be sure. Such fun to actually see one in real life and watch it. They are so fast that I can't believe I could ever get a photo of it unless it's when it is perching somewhere. Makes me wonder if I had one before now and just never saw it. Now I know what to look for! So exciting!!! Thanks for all the advice and information!

Plant it and they will come! :-) :-) :-)

Congrats beckygardener! There is no bigger thrill than seeing a Hummer in real life for the first time. I shed a few tears the first one that ever came to our yard and then I thought it might be my imagination till he started coming all the time. If you get one,I bet you will get another. We have 6 to 8 regulars here every year.

Ahhh...congrats Becky! I'm so glad it FINALLY found you!!! :))) I'm excited for you! I know you are doing my "3 yr old happy dance"!!

Thanks Poosy and Paige! I saw it again on Sunday. It just comes briefly to my yard, right to the area I planted all the nectar plants. It doesn't seem that interested in the feeder. (Though it has gone to the feeder.)

I hope Deb's right about it possibly marking it's spot. Maybe others will follow! I sure hope so! I want a flock of them here all buzzing around my plants and feeders! LOL! I want to be able to see hummers for more than a few minutes! I know, I know ... I'm never satisfied! LOL!

I believe he must be over-wintering at your house. Maybe he'll like your backyard so much that he'll just make it a permanent home year round. I read somewhere that some over-winter on the coast of the Carolinas and I know your weather is much warmer. I'm so excited for you!

Folks here in my area have told me that they have hummers year round. I was thinking that it is either a migrating bird or a juvenile looking for it's own territory. I am just so happy to have one!!! I still can't believe it! I look for it every weekend now when I am home for most of the day. I know that the hummers come in the Spring time too from what the local nursery clerk has told me. Flocks of them zip in and out of their large greenhouse area during the Spring months! LOL!

Congratulations Becky!!!! I am still waiting. And waiting. Let us know if it comes back.