More than a week ago an Igo neighbor, someone I call the Hummingbird Whisperer, sent an e-mail.
She’s become my Igo outdoor mentor. She tells me what plants I shouldn’t even consider, lest I want to feed the deer. She tells me about her 28 years of experience in Igo, which includes all kinds of great stories about bears, skunks and racoons. I’m a sucker for those stories.
Her latest e-mail mentioned she’s already feeding hummingbirds.
This struck me as odd, since she’s the one who clued me in a few years ago, even before Bruce and I moved out here, that hummingbirds that wintered elsewhere usually returned to Igo in mid-March. She said you could almost set your watch by them.
Even so, I took the Hummingbird Whisperer’s word for it. This is a woman who has more feeders and more hummingbirds than I’d ever seen in one place in my life. If the hummingbirds were back early, she’d know.
I put out one feeder. A few hummingbirds showed up. Nothing to get excited about. Oh well.
This morning I couldn’t believe my eyes. Actually, I heard them before I saw them. It sounded like an electric hedge trimmer. Hummingbirds hovered outside the window and stared at me with a look I knew well.
“THE FEEDER’S EMPTY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING STANDING THERE? FILL IT! FIIIILLL ITTT”
They’re really demanding little buggers.
Sure enough, dozens of other hummingbirds darted around the lone, empty feeder, sucked dry. The more determined hummers jackhammered the feeder’s red plastic, convinced they’d find food.
Good grief. OK, OK, OK.
I dusted off my two biggest feeders, the ones I’d stored in the garage months ago after the last of the hummers left for Mexico or wherever.
Excuse me.
I’m back.
I had to go make another batch of hummingbird food.
I’m almost afraid to ask, but if this is how many hummingbirds are here now, I wonder what will happen next month?
Only the Hummingbird Whisperer knows.
Meanwhile, here’s a hummingbird nectar recipe. I have a feeling you might need it.
Hummingbird Nectar
2 parts sugar to 2 parts boiling water.
In a large, container, stir sugar into the water until it’s well dissolved. (If you skip this step you’ll have a huge sugar wafer at the bottom of your container. By the way, I use a large, heavy microwaveable plastic mixing bowl that has a handle. I don’t like boiling sugar water in glass, even Pyrex. I’m always afraid it will shatter. You can always boil this mixture on a stove, if you prefer.)
Heat the sugar and water on high for about 7 minutes, or until it’s so hot that sugar crystals are no longer visable.
Dilute by half with water. (Do not color with dye.) Pour into clean hummingbird feeders. Watch the show, especially at day break and dusk.
