A Day Late. This email is a day late as a Fir tree branch took down our Comcast internet line on Sunday and they just got through splicing the line late on Monday.
Commissioner's Meeting Delayed to Tuesday. The County Commissioner's meeting that was scheduled for Monday evening will be held on Tuesday at 1 pm. This is the meeting where the Commissioners will be voting on the Illahee Community Plan. The county offices will be closed on Monday because of the inclement weather.
Timbers Edge Closing Arguments. The closing arguments for the Timbers Edge project were due this past Friday (12/19/08). We will see if we can get copies of both sides arguments to pass on, since they are public records.
Illahee Community Boundaries. We have had added a number of new email addresses and some have wondered what the exact boundaries of the Illahee Community are. The map is also available here on the Illahee community website.
Additional Hummingbird Information. We have been surprised at the number of people reporting on hummingbirds. We have three more reports.
I noticed what seemed to be a small swarm of hummingbirds out my eastern window about three days ago. The same day I noticed a hummingbird sitting on a feeder looking lethargic and then it fell off. I looked out on the deck and couldn't find it. In the mean time I started a vigil of keeping the feeder food in a liquid form and pulling our two feeders into the house at night. Day before yesterday I saw another hummingbird fall off the feeder and ran out to see if I could find it. There it was. I placed it in a towel and shoebox and brought it into the house. It was ready to leave within 15 minutes. I held it in my hand and it flew away. LaRae called a veterinarian to ask if we were doing the right thing. She was referred to a wildlife rescue (206 855-9057). They told her not to use sugar water and to use commercial hummingbird food because it has nutrients that the other does not have. Also, they said that some hummingbirds do go away for the winter but others choose to stay in the Puget Sound area.
Use at my hummingbird feeder was active all day today. The sugar/water solution (mixed a little rich for the cold weather) freezes at about 23 or 24 degrees, at which point I bring it into the house for a brief warm-up.
We have an interesting situation at our house where we have one dominate male hummingbird that has decided the birdfeeder is his very own and he is not about to share it. He sits on a tree branch about 20 feet away and guards the feeder attaching any other hummingbird that comes near. He sits there nearly all day watching the feeder ready to fly whenever another bird comes near. We decided to set out another feeder some distance away to see if some of the smaller hummingbirds will use it, or if he will chase them away from that one too.
Keep Sending Us Information. Keep on sending us information and we will pass it on.
Jim Aho
The wildlife rescue person misinformed you. The commercial hummingbird "food" sold in most stores (a.k.a. "instant nectar") contains no extra nutrition. It's just overpackaged, overpriced sugar with unnecessary dyes, flavorings, preservatives. There is a complete artificial diet for hummingbirds, but it's very expensive, not sold in ordinary pet stores, and only necessary for long-term captive hummingbirds.
ReplyDeleteFree-living wild hummingbirds get the bulk of their nutrition from eating insects and spiders, and while there are not many of those to be had when the temperatures get very cold, your local Anna's Hummingbirds are tough and cold hardy and can get by on sugar water until the weather gets back to normal.
You're already doing the best thing you can do to help them survive unusually cold weather by to making your sugar water a little stronger than normal. A solution of 3 parts water to one part sugar will give them extra energy as well as freezing at a lower temperature than the standard 4:1 solution. Any stronger than that it it starts becoming too syrupy and hard to drink. See my blog for more.