Scripture to Live By:
I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
Psalm 9:1,2
Garden Post:
Did you ever wonder how Hummingbirds can fly so quickly and how they seem so different from other birds? They seem to just go, go, go without stopping to rest. They have always been fascinating to me. I have watched them for years, coming and going but where we live now, they are a constant in the spring and summer, so I wanted to learn more about them. I took my search to the vast quantity of information on the Internet. If you would like to learn more about them you could go toBuzzle.com.
Two humming birds feeding at the same time.
Here are a few of the facts that I thought might be of interest to you.
- To maintain their energy levels, hummingbirds eat every 15 to 20 minutes and may visit around 1,000 flowers per day. When they are unable to feed due to the weather, they go into a condition in which their metabolic rate comes down to only one-fifteenth of normal sleep.
- A hummingbird eats spiders and gnats for protein. Sometimes it even pulls the spider out of its web in an attempt to catch an insect that is entangled there.
- The normal resting heartbeat of a hummingbird is 480 beats per minute, this number can go up to 1,260 per minute when it is excited. These little birds breathe 250 times per minute.
- Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards, forwards, up, down, sideways or even sit in empty space.
- The female hummingbird brings up the young ones without the help of the male. Female hummingbirds lay a clutch of only two white eggs and produce only a single brood every season.
- The life span of a hummingbird is usually 5 to 10 years.
We enjoy the hummingbirds all summer long. This feeder is right on our front patio. So as we sit on the patio, where we can watch them throughout the day, as they come and go. Some times they will fight over the feeder and keep other hummingbirds at bay.
We had never seen a hummingbird land on the feeder, until last summer, but now we see them frequently on the rim of the feeder, as in this picture. (You have to look closely to see him, he is blending in with the flowers.)
You can see him a little better in this picture .
Hummingbird Food is easy to make and is a lot cheaper than store bought food. The hummingbirds we have in our yard, enjoy it just as much. We do not add coloring to the water, so it is clear, but the hummingbirds do not mind at all.
This is what you need:
1 cup of sugar
4cup of water.
Put on the stove and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When it reaches boiling point turn the stove off and let the mixture cool completely.
You could double this recipe so you could fill more than one feeder and still have some left to refill. This
I just store it in a quart jar with the lid tightly screwed on and keep it in the refrigerator, until I need it. I keep it approximately three weeks. We have several feeders so we go through a lot of it.
Fill your feeder, leaving a small amount of space at the top.
Screw the top on and make sure it doesn’t leak. Turn it upright.
Place it in your favorite spot to feed your hummingbirds, preferably a spot where you will be able to relax and watch them as they visit your feeder.
If you are one that feeds the hummingbirds, I hope you will consider making your own food. You will never have to go to the store again to purchase food for them when your feeders are empty, you can just make it yourself in only a few minutes.
Blessings,
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What gorgeous pictures!
Margo, Thank you so much for your comment. I wish you could see them in person, they are gorgeous little birds. Blessings, Jo-Ann
Your pictures are beautiful!
I just checked 10 hummingbird websites and they all say to use one part sugar to four parts water. I noticed that you use one part to one part. Did you get your recipe from a particular website? I just want to make sure I'm using the correct ratio. Thanks!
Kenni, this is the web site I got it from http://www.ehow.com/how_2306143_make-hummingbird-food.html
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I have made it for the last couple of years. I am sure I made it 1 cup of sugar to 4 cups of water.(I went to the above sight to make sure I was getting the portions right and I see they don't have the same portions as others do.) I just went to several sites and I am going to change the reciepe in the post. Thank you again for bringing this to my attention.
Thanks for getting back to me, Jo-Ann. A momma hummingbird built a nest outside our bedroom window (much to my delight) so I wanted to make sure I was feeding her and her hubby properly. 🙂
Have a blessed day! Kenni
Great facts. I make my own food too but haven't seen many birds there this season….yet.
Thank you for viewing my post. In our area there are many. They are so beautiful We s enjoy watching them. Blessings, Jo-Ann
I'm so glad you posted this on Simply Sensational…we just put our feeder up last week and have seen a few hummingbirds. However, I didn't boil the sugar water first. I think that sounds like a much better idea! My aunt told me she's been making her own with one part to four parts for years and the hummingbirds love it. I'll have to ask if she boils it first. Thanks for the tip! They are such beautiful birds and your pictures are beautiful!
Thank you so much for your comment and encouraging words. Blessing to you, Jo-Ann
I love the little darlins! They were my late mother's most favorite thing to watch. She had a knack for enticing them to come by. I will have to try your recipe as I haven't seen a one this season.
Thank you for viewing my blog. So glad the post could bring a memory to you of your mother. Hope you will try it, it works well for us. Blessings, Jo-Ann
Jo-Ann,
Thanks so much. This would be fun to do with my daughter and younger son who love birds.
Yes it would. They can learn and do so much and I am sure they love to do things with mommy. Blessings, Jo-Ann
Thanks for this recipe for the hummingbird feed. I love to look at those pretty birds.
You are so very welcome. The are so precious and they are a delight to watch. Thank you for viewing my post. Blessings to you, Jo-Ann
the comments about the recipe variation made me giggle – my mother always makes her own sugar water for the humming birds with the 4-1 ratio, and one week she noticed that the birds were really sucking it down – turned out my niece had been making it much stronger than usual and the birds noticed. :o)
Leslie, thank you so mcuh for sharing about your family incident with the recipe variation. Makes me feel little better. Thank you for viewing my blog and for you comment.
Hi! Visiting from a link party! Love your pictures! They are amazing! I love to watch the hummers.. they are so playful 🙂
I would love for you to share this at my Friday link party.. it just opened! 🙂
Thank you so much for visiting my blog and for viewing my post. Thank you for inviting me to you link party. I am glad you like my pictures. We love to watch the hummingbirds as well. They are so gorgeous. Blessings, Jo-Ann
What a great project! I had no idea it was that easy. I've been delaying putting out bird feeders because they wake me up so early in the morning, but your pictures remind me of how lovely it would be to have birds visiting.
If you're looking for another place to share your creative projects, check out Etcetorize (http://etcetorize.blogspot.com). Party starts later tonight, I'd love to see you there~
Thank you so much for viewing my post, and thank you for the invitation to your link party. I hope you will try making their food, they will love it and you can enjoy them. Blessings to you, Jo-Ann
Love all the info you shared and the great photos. I will have to Google to see if hummmingbirds are in my area. Not really sure. But I have a great porch and places to hang feeders if so. Thanks for sharing on SweetTalkin' Sunday!
Lisa, Thank you so much for you special comments. I hope you do have hummingbirds in your area. They are so much fun to watch. We filled our feeder jusyt a few days ago and it is over half empty. They really enjoy the sugar water and they are so interesting to watch. Beautiful as well. Blessings to you, Jo-Ann
Jo-Ann, Great photos! We have hummingbirds in our yard too and they are beautiful 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday this week. I can’t wait to see what you link up next week. Have a great weekend.
Michelle
Thanks for the tip – I love this informative post – very interesting :o)
Staceyof Embracing Change