Patience...

[poliphilo]

We bought a gadget that you fix to the mouth of a large plastic bottle in order to turn it into a dispenser of bird seed. I assembled the dispenser and hung it in the eucalyptus tree in the back yard. That was yesterday. Since then I haven't seen a single bird in the vicinity.

Comments

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

Wait till it's really cold, then they'll come running. Er, flying.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Here's hoping....

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I hope you will take a photograph when a bird finds your new gadget.

When I moved into my house I found a little notebook in the laundry room with the charming title "Hummingbird Visits."

Inside was a listing of all earliest and latest dates that hummingbirds came to the feeder that still hung outside the window.

Of course, I was very excited at this extra benefit of moving to my new house and waited eagerly for spring. I followed the internet instructions exactly and waited impatiently in April for the first hummingbirds to arrive from their Brazilian journey.

I never saw a single hummingbird, but ants found the feeder quickly and loved the pink sugar water very much.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You have humming-birds in Tennessee? I didn't know that.

What we'll get- if we're lucky- are blue tits and long-tailed tits and maybe the odd finch. Robins come into the garden sometimes, but I'm told they can't manage a hanging feeder- so I've scattered some feed across the ground as well.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

We have many hummingbirds in Tennessee. One reason my house may not have gotten any takers at the feeder is that so many people are now buying special feeders for them.

My sister, who lives in upper east Tennessee, has many hummingbirds every year, and she says they tend to be very territorial--one managed to buzz off intruders at the feeder for the whole summer.

I once saw a hummingbird's nest on a friend's coffee table. It was incredibly delicate and tiny, woven between two small branches.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Oh, I never edit anything!

I followed the internet instructions exactly and waited impatiently in April for the first hummingbirds to arrive from their Brazilian journey.

The internet didn't tell me to wait impatiently. I meant to say that I followed the directions on preparing nectar...

Of course, you knew that.

Uncertainty

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

Like as not, the sudden appearance of the new object in the tree has them feeling skittish. Once they get used to it, they will return. I've never tried a feeder like that - we use one of the "traditional" ones, and the birds flock to it constantly. As do the damnable squirrels! (Note that I normally think squirrels are quite cute and charming, except when they are literally destroying the feeder to get to the seeds inside, scaring off all the birds and making a mess in the process)

Re: Uncertainty

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think we're safe from squirrels. I've never seen one in our yard. There aren't enough trees on this side of the road to tempt them over from the big gardens opposite.

I've just looked out the window- nope; still no birds.

Re: Uncertainty

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

A watched pot never boils....

[kaysho.livejournal.com]

You do realise that they post on Birdnet the safe times to feed when they won't be observed. :)

We have a nice hummingbird feeder in our back yard. It's our apple tree.

Probably the most birds I've ever seen was when I was living in Arkansas, and one of the trees in our back yard was apparently a landmark on the Mississippi Flyway. Each fall, huge flocks of sparrows (several thousands) would occasionally arrive at this tree, cover it and the surrounding ground and trees, remain a few minutes, then depart. It was like living in a roadside rest stop. :)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

So not only do they have websites- they have an aerial interstate!