- Thread starter
- #91
Tablecloth isn't out yet - I'm a little late this year but it'll be out by early next week, along with the "bait" feeder. Sounds like you are all ready - now comes the patience part. I don't put much feed in the feeders in the beginning - maybe enough to bring the level two inches above the round part on the bottom where the ports are. I can get by with changing the food out every 5 days or so because it's still cool most of the day and cold at night. It makes no sense to fill it to the top, get no hummers feeding, dump it out and do it again every couple of days, so that's why I don't fill the scout feeder very full.
In the summer, I can't wait 5 days between dumping and feeding. The summer heat makes the sugar water and the feeder get yucky and it only takes a couple of days in the hot sun for the sugar water to actually sour and even begin to mold. But by then I have dozens of hummers feeding and fighting so I don't mind dumping, rinsing and refilling every 3 days or so. I make up the food in large quantities, fill a clean, empty plastic fruit juice container marked "Hummer Food" and store it in the fridge. Then when I bring in feeders, empty and rinse them, there's cold, fresh sugar water all ready to put in them. They really hit the feeders when that chilled sugar water goes out.....like the difference between a warm beer and a nice cold one, I guess!
The patience part is harder to come by. Fill, wait, empty, fill, wait, repeat until you're almost ready to give up and then BAM! you see one!
You can go to this site and watch the migration of these flying flowers.....keep an eye out for your area and you'll have a better idea when to expect them. This site is geared for school but I've found it to be an invaluable resource. And remember, just because there's no "dot" in your area doesn't mean there are no hummers in your area - it just means that nobody has reported them!
https://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/
Edited to add: A quick check shows that there are sightings in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Just enlarge the map and then click on a dot to see sighting information. Get ready.......
In the summer, I can't wait 5 days between dumping and feeding. The summer heat makes the sugar water and the feeder get yucky and it only takes a couple of days in the hot sun for the sugar water to actually sour and even begin to mold. But by then I have dozens of hummers feeding and fighting so I don't mind dumping, rinsing and refilling every 3 days or so. I make up the food in large quantities, fill a clean, empty plastic fruit juice container marked "Hummer Food" and store it in the fridge. Then when I bring in feeders, empty and rinse them, there's cold, fresh sugar water all ready to put in them. They really hit the feeders when that chilled sugar water goes out.....like the difference between a warm beer and a nice cold one, I guess!
The patience part is harder to come by. Fill, wait, empty, fill, wait, repeat until you're almost ready to give up and then BAM! you see one!
You can go to this site and watch the migration of these flying flowers.....keep an eye out for your area and you'll have a better idea when to expect them. This site is geared for school but I've found it to be an invaluable resource. And remember, just because there's no "dot" in your area doesn't mean there are no hummers in your area - it just means that nobody has reported them!
https://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/
Edited to add: A quick check shows that there are sightings in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Just enlarge the map and then click on a dot to see sighting information. Get ready.......
Last edited:
