[obol] Hummingbird feeders

[Nancy Brown]

I've been following the discussion on hummer feeders with interest. I have often wondered if the temperature of the fluid affects them at all. Since I'm a great anthropomorphizer, when I'm home during the day I often will take feeders in and heat the nectar to room temperature.  I also bring the feeders in at night and take them out just before dawn. When I take them out I hear them chipping, and the past two days they have landed on the feeder almost before I could get them on the hooks. I've been able to stand a foot away and watch them for a minute.  While I worry about them in this weather, my point of reference is the ice/snow storm of 2004. I swapped out frozen feeders 2-3x a day for a week in the frozen wasteland that was my yard, and they managed to survive.
 
The past few days I've had Flickers, Bushtits, and  two Red-breasted Nuthatches  on my suet feeder; Golden-crowned Sparrows, Chickadees, Juncos, House Finches (one with a snow-white head) and numerous Sparrows in my sunflower seed feeders; Golden-crowned Sparrows, American Robins and a lone Ruby-crowned Kinglet foraging on the ground; and I've heard but not seen a Red-winged Blackbird. I had both American Goldfinches and Lesser Goldfinches on my nyjer several days ago, but have not seen them in this cold weather.
 
Nancy Brown
NE Portland
 
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