Winter 2013 Hummingbird Gardening Update

"The hummingbird shows us how to re-visit the past for the purpose of releasing it instead of being caught in a permanently backward flight pattern. It also helps us to see that if we step aside we may see our life differently. The hummingbird teaches us to transcend time, to recognize that what has happened in the past and what might happen in the future is not nearly as important as what we are experiencing now. It teaches us to hover in the moment, to appreciate its sweetness." - Constance Barrett Sohodski

In This Issue:

• · Welcome
• · Come & See Us at the Dane County Garden Expo, February 9 & 10, 2013, Alliant Energy Center
• · How Did our 2012 Hummingbird Gardening Season Close?
• · Report on Fall/Winter 2012 Hummingbirds in Wisconsin
• · What is a Gulf Coast Hummingbird Garden Like in January?
• · What’s New For Your 2013 Hummingbird Garden?
• · Hummingbird Nestcam---Let the Fun Begin!!
• · 2013 Juan Bahamon Hummingbird Calendar
• · Calendar of Events

Hi Everyone,

Happy New Year!! We truly hope that it is a wonderful 2013 for you, filled with happiness, peace, good health, and most of all, hummingbirds and flowers! And, we hope that each and every one of you enjoyed a warm, bright, and meaningful Holiday Season, whatever you celebrate in December!

We want to thank everyone who came to our 2012 Hummingbird Garden Tour. Our timing was not good this year and our garden was fading, but it’s almost impossible to predict a good day when the tour is set, almost a year in advance---our records from the year before don’t always reflect the realities of the current year. We were so appreciative of all of your enthusiasm, great questions, and wonderful food and gifts. Every year we are rewarded for all of our hard work by all of you who come and enjoy our yard and our hummingbirds! Our inspiration is you!! We are in the process of setting the date for the 2013 tour now and will let you know as soon as we decide.

Our fall was a little hectic and sad with Michael’s Mother, who was 89 years young, unexpectedly passing away on November 13, 2013 and the chronic and puzzling illness of my developmentally disabled sister. I also struggled with a Staph infection in my lower leg that I probably got from working in the harsh conditions of our hummingbird garden last summer---after mega doses of antibiotics, luckily I am finally on the mend. They say that trouble comes in threes and we hope that we are good to go now for a while.

We are now ready to embrace the spring hummingbird and gardening season, which is quickly approaching. Hummingbirds will begin arriving in the Gulf Coast in late February/early March and will reach Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest as early as mid-April. Here is a link to last year’s Ruby-throat migration map:

http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html

You’ll notice and maybe remember that 2012 was a highly unusual year for our part of the country because of the unseasonably warm weather in March---we certainly don’t expect that phenomenon in 2013 and hummingbirds will probably be back on their normal schedule (although they migrate mostly based on length of day and not temperature, but availability of insects and nectar can make a difference in when they arrive.) Despite the warm March temperatures, our first hummingbird of 2012 arrived right on his usual schedule in early May!

It is very difficult to think about a garden and hummingbirds in the cold and snow of Wisconsin, but good planning and anticipation will make for a fun and satisfying season ahead. We hope to see some of you at the upcoming Dane County Garden Expo sessions and if not, please keep in touch with us with your questions, comments, and suggestions.

In our next newsletter, you’ll find information about hummingbird feeders and local nurseries, so stay tuned (and stay warm) until then!

With best wishes,

Kathi & Michael

 

2013 DANE COUNTY GARDEN EXPO

Once again, Michael and I will present our Gardening for Hummingbirds program onSaturday and Sunday, February 9 and 10, 2013 at the Dane County Garden Expo at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Here is a link to more information about this event, presented by Wisconsin Public Television, which grows in size and scope every year:

http://www.wigardenexpo.com/

Information about tickets:

http://www.wigardenexpo.com/tickets/

On Saturday, our program will be from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. and on Sunday, from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. Here are links to more specific information about seminar sessions on each day:

· Friday: http://www.wigardenexpo.com/seminarsdemo/

· Saturday: http://www.wigardenexpo.com/saturday/

· Sunday: http://www.wigardenexpo.com/sunday/

Attending the Garden Expo (and people come from far and wide!) is a wonderful way to get excited about spring, gardening, and hummingbirds. There are so many interesting and informative seminars and demos to attend and the exhibition hall is a lot of fun (we suggest trying to check that part of the Expo out on Sunday because of the huge volume of people on Saturday!) It’s also a great way to connect with other people who are knowledgeable about and interested in gardening and nature. There’s something for everyone at the Dane County Garden Expo!

We really hope to see you there. Let the planning for Spring 2013 begin!

HOW DID OUR 2012 HUMMINGBIRD GARDENING SEASON CLOSE?

After a very successful garden tour (although we found that we should have held this event about a week earlier---who can predict?), we were excited about the possibility of our hummingbirds staying with us a bit longer and perhaps a Western hummingbird even showing up, but unfortunately none of that was meant to be. Our garden was fried and all of the perennials had long ago gone dormant (although annuals and tender perennials were still going strong) because of the intense heat of the summer and unfortunately our hummingbirds actually left us early. Our last hummingbird was seen on October 9 (we actually saw two hummers), which was unseasonably early for us. Our latest sighting ever was November 17, 2010, and we didn’t even come close to that last year. We will qualify this by saying that we had to leave on an out of town trip on October 9 and when we returned a few days later, no hummers were seen. We personally think that the severe drought and harsh heat of last summer possibly decreased food sources much earlier than usual (although we did hear about some City of Madison sightings about a week later than ours.) We are hoping for a better season this year, but as we learned, so many factors are clearly out of our control. To get inspired and become amazed, keep reading to learn about hummingbirds that lived with us in Wisconsin in November and December 2012.

REPORT ON FALL/WINTER 2012 HUMMINGBIRDS IN WISCONSIN

Many of you may be pinching yourselves, wondering if you just read this right----hummingbirds seen in Wisconsin in November and December!?!? 2012 was a phenomenal season for unusual hummingbirds in Wisconsin. We can only link it to the climate change and more people maintaining feeders for hummingbirds and observing those feeders very closely. Here is a link to a detailed report on E-Bird regarding these extraordinary hummingbirds:

http://ebird.org/content/wi/news/rare-late-fall-hummingbirds-now-in-wisconsin-1

We are including below the Wisconsin Birding List reports about these beautiful and brave birds (Thank you Ryan Brady for keep on top of the progress of these hummingbirds). We also applaud the dedicated homeowners who maintained feeders for them through adverse conditions. We can only hope that a few of these birds survived and made it to warmer climes.

October 29, 2012

The Hummingbird is still coming to nectar feeders at a friend’s home in
Hudson, Wisconsin. The homeowner got a new photo of the bird today and after sending it
to Ryan Brady, he determined it to be a possible Rufous or Allen's.
Here's the pic:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32706210@N05/8122870491/in/pool-wisconsinebird

If anyone did have a nice zoom on their camera and could go over there, it
would be nice to see if we can ID this rare one.

########

November 14, 2012

This past month has been unprecedented in seeing no fewer than 6 Rufous-Allen's-type hummingbirds in Wisconsin. I'll work up an eBird article summarizing them all but most recently are birds in Stevens Point, Rio (Columbia County), and Port Washington. Get your feeders up!

The Stevens Point bird has been present for a month or so and is apparently still there. Local birders are working on access/permission so stay tuned. Here's the lone pic I've seen of this bird:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32706210@N05/8183011519/in/pool-wisconsinebird

The Rio bird - a stunning adult male - was reported yesterday on the 5th and final day of its stay and has apparently moved on. Pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32706210@N05/8186399938/in/pool-wisconsinebird/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32706210@N05/8186400570/in/pool-wisconsinebird/

The Port Washington report just came in today with video. Noel Cutright is communicating with the homeowner.

The other birds included the Hudson hummer a few weeks back and at least 2 birds (including one adult male) in LaCrosse over the past month.

And apparent Ruby-throated is still being seen in Howard's Grove.

What else is out there?

########

November 27, 2012

Still working out details but more Rufous-typeHummingbirds are being seen in the state and I wanted to encourage everyone to keep those feeders going, especially with a significant warmup in the forecast for the next week.

The first is being seen near Brookfield in Waukesha County. I have not received photos yet to confirm the ID. Nor do I have any information on access. Stay tuned.

The others are coming again from La Crosse, where amazingly a homeowner had 3 hummingbirds simultaneously fighting over a feeder yesterday and two more today. At least one I'm told is an adult male Rufous. The only pic I received so far shows a female/immature Rufous-Allen's type. I'll share more info as I get it.

Info on late season hummingbirds:
http://ebird.org/content/wi/news/rare-late-fall-hummingbirds-now-in-wisconsin-1/Hummers-in-Late-Fall.pdf
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/western-hummingbirds-in-the-east-set-your-feeders-out

#######

November 28, 2012

The Brookfield homeowner does NOT want visiting birders. But here are few pics of his bird, which has been present since mid-October. One of these must be something other than Rufous eventually (although we never know it)!

http://www.pbase.com/rbrady/brookfieldhummer

#######

November 27, 2012

Updateon the La Crosse birds: I was sent photos of 2 birds taken today - one
adult male Rufous and one imm Rufous/Allen's. Interesting
development, although a different homeowner, the birds are being seen
only 0.5 miles from the La Crosse residence that hosted 2-3 birds
earlier in the month. And the plumages appear to match - so it's likely
they are the same ones now at a different house.

Updateon the Brookfield bird: I was sent a couple photos that show a
Selasphorus sp. - likely female/imm Rufous but not confirmable from
pics. Have inquired about access and will let folks know. Pics seem to
indicate this is a new bird, in particular it's not the one recently
seen in nearby Port Washington.

######

December 14, 2012

FYI, the Rufous Hummingbird in Brookfield, Waukesha Co., continues as of this morning. In La Crosse, bothRufous Hummingbirds continue as well, as of yesterday.
All of these are now the latest of their kind ever recorded in Wisconsin.

#######

December 17, 2012

Had to share this beautiful photo by the homeowner of one of two Rufous Hummingbirds continuing as of today in La Crosse.

http://www.pbase.com/rbrady/image/147908020

The Brookfield bird continues as of yesterday. I also received photos just this afternoon of another adult male near Rio in Columbia County, but those homeowners have also declined any visitors (apparently I'm a horrible salesman). All of these are the latest Selasphorus hummingbirds in state history.

Finally, a photographed Ruby-throated continues in Sheboygan County and will be record late if it makes it to Dec 20. Amazing - and bizarre - year!

########

December 19, 2012

Not to be outdone by La Crosse, the Brookfield (Waukesha Co.) homeowner
sent me this cool shot of his Rufous Hummingbird in yesterday's snow.
We'll see how they all fare through your southern WI storm tomorrow.
Such hardy birds! http://www.pbase.com/rbrady/image/147943175

#####

December 22, 2012

I'm sure some of you are wondering how these hummingbirds fared through your southern WI snowstormon Thursday.

1. Both La Crosse Rufous Hummingbirds are still present as of today.

2. The Rio Rufous was present the morning after the storm but hasn't been seen since noonon Friday. According to hummingbird expert Scott Weidensaul, departure of these hummingbirds is often mid-morning following a cold/snow event, so perhaps that's what happened here.

3. I haven't heard from the Brookfield homeowner yet.

4. The Sheboygan Co. Ruby-throated also made it through the storm and was still present as of this morning.

#########

December 29, 2012

1. Both La Crosse Rufous Hummingbirds made it through the Thurs 12/20 storm and according to the homeowner fed intensely over prolonged periods for several days. They were last seen on Dec 23 and all signs suggest they departed fat and happy for warmer climes.

2. As mentioned below, the Rio bird also made it through the storm and departed on Dec 21 after extensive feeding.

3. The Brookfield bird was still present as of Dec 23 but I am awaiting a more recent update.

4. The Howard's Grove Ruby-throated was also still present of Dec 23 and I am again waiting to hear the latest.

########

January 16, 2013 (Final Report)

Both the Rio Rufous and the 2 La Crosse Rufous's seem to have departed happily. The Brookfield homeowner never wrote me back so I don't know the ultimate fate of that one. The Ruby-throated is a bit more mysterious. It's not being seen but I'd give it 50/50 on death vs. departure.

WHAT IS A GULF COAST HUMMINGBIRD GARDEN LIKE IN JANUARY?

Ever wonder what it would be like to be a hummingbird gardener in a Gulf Coast state during winter? Our colleague and Master Hummingbird bander and naturalist lives in a suburb of New Orleans and presents this fascinating account:

“As we approach the middle of January, the pace of the winter season seems to be slowing a bit. The first 2 'winterers' arrived on31 August, right on the heels of Hurricane Isaac, which wrought considerable damage to the hummer plants here at Casa Colibri. Both were immature females that stayed only a couple of days amid the throng of migrating Ruby-throateds, but each left with a band on its left leg.

September was an active month with hordes of migrating Ruby-throateds dominating the feeders and flowers. Still 4 more Rufous or Allen's Selasphorus and a Calliope arrived and all but 1 moved on. The Calliope and 1 of the other Selasphorus failed to accept our offer of bands. Action slowed in October as the Ruby-throateds dropped off by mid-month. A Buff-bellied arrived and she joined the young male Rufous as a steady presence. 3 more Rufous or Allen's Selasphorus and 2 more Calliopes arrived. A young female Rufous staked out a territory in the front yard. She was more interested in the gardens than in the feeder, but she was persuaded to wear the jewelry.

The Calliopes were noted sporadically through 9 November. They used flowers exclusively as did a new young male Rufous or Allen's Selasphorus. A female Black-chinned used a feeder, but she didn't get a band like the immature male of her species that appeared shortly before Thanksgiving. An immature female Rufous or Allen's Selasphorus put in a couple of appearances before departing to parts unknown. An immature male Rufous arrived shortly after Thanksgiving and he displaced the immature female in front though she has managed to eke out a living without holding a territory. An immature male Calliope arrived on the last day of November and he readily agreed to wear a numbered ankle bracelet.

5 December arrivals were 3 Ruby-throateds [2 immature males and 1 immature female] and 2 Rufous [1 immature male and 1 immature female], all of which received bands. The 2 Rufous seem to have remained in the area, but they do not hold territories and they are seen only occasionally. All 3 Ruby-throateds seem to be sharing a territory that contains a lot of Ugly Shrimp Plant and 2 feeders.

No new birds have shown up in January, but banding has kept me on the road and often there is no daylight time to assess the current bunch. Today was a planned day off so I was eager to see what was going on. Several feeders were empty this morning. In the 4 1/2 months that the first young male Rufous has been here, he has acquired his complete rusty tail and back but gorget development has been negligible. Last week, the front yard immature male Rufous began sharing the territory with the female he had displaced.

This morning, she is holding the territory and he has not been seen. He may have left though his back was still mostly green and he also has little gorget development. The female Rufous is now holding the territory. She is exhibiting a strange behavior. Several times during the day, I have watched her pick at patches of lichens in the Crepe Myrtle that is the heart of her territory. I have not seen her actually pull any, but at times, she lands on the patch of lichens and snugs herself into it as if it were a nest. I am not suggesting that she is building a nest, but I do wonder if she is practicing for her future chores.

The Buff-bellied remains uncaught, so her band number has not been verified. The Calliope has disappeared for as many as 16 days, but he was present all day Friday and was here this morning as well. He and the Ruby-throateds maintain an uneasy truce. This is the longest any Calliope has remained here at Casa Colibri.”

To learn more about Louisiana hummingbirds and Nancy’s wonderful garden and banding efforts, please visit her website at:

http://www.casacolibri.net/

For hummingbird gardeners living in this area of the country, winter is the most interesting and active time as Ruby-throats are mostly just passing through in the spring and fall to the northern states. They live for this wonderful time in the same way that we look forward to summer and early fall in Wisconsin.

WHAT’S NEW FOR YOUR 2013 HUMMINGBIRD GARDEN?

Gardening catalogs began arriving in our mailbox in mid-December and provided a welcome respite from Madison’s worst blizzard in years. We are always excited to see living, blooming plants at that time of the year, but we must say that we have been a little underwhelmed by this season’s offerings so far. We are always looking for new things to try, but this year of a tough economy may not deliver many interesting new choices unfortunately. Before we get into nurseries and what they offer, what are the best plants to try in a Northern Hummingbird garden? Here is a link to information on our website that answers that very question (and you can find photos of most plants discussed on this page on our website):

https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/mjrock/web/HUMMINGBIRD%20GARDENINGII.pdf

Some of our favorite online nurseries for hummingbird plants and new hummingbird-attracting plants they are offering include:

-The Crownsville Nursery (http://www.crownsvillenursery.com/): Offers a solid selection of tender and hardier salvias, canna indica (one of the few nurseries to offer this as a plant!), lobelia, monarda, nepeta, etc. Plants are huge and beautiful, well packed, and really top quality. Hummingbird information page available. Plants ordered by February 15 will receive a 15% discount and free shipping on orders $250 or more (one of the few top notch nurseries that offers an early bird discount and free shipping).

-Avant Gardens (www.avantgardensne.com): Wonderful selection of annuals and perennials for the hummingbird garden. Plants are very high quality and customer service excellent. Cuphea ‘David Verity’ is available from this nursery----this plant has been difficult to find locally or online.

-Select Seeds (www.select seeds.com): Interesting mix of seeds (many unusual and/or antique) and plants for the hummingbird garden. They offer Salvia guarantica (the species is very difficult to find) and are offering Cuphea ‘David Verity’ as a plant for the first time. Price of plants is extremely reasonable and plants are small but high quality and well packed.

-Flowers By The Sea (www.fbts.com) : Has the most unusual and varied selection of tender and some hardier salvias available anywhere! They offer something new every year and are on the cutting edge of the salvia world, but some plants might not ever bloom in the Upper Midwest, so purchase at your own risk. We are highly impressed with what this west coast nursery is doing and urge you to give them a try. You might want to try plants from them in containers versus planting them in the ground.

-Sweet Nectar Nursery (http://www.sweetnectarnursery.com/) : This west coast mail order nursery specializes in plants for hummingbirds and butterflies. Hummingbird information page available. High quality plants, a huge selection, and top-notch customer service are their trademarks. Highly recommended.

-Plant Delights (www.plantdelights.com): Unusual plants for hummingbirds from around the world. Plants can be pricey, but a plant unavailable anywhere else could be worth the splurge. Decent selection of salvias and sinningia (now a staple of our hummingbird garden, but not highly available.)

-Almost Eden Plants (www.almostedenplants.com): This Louisiana nursery has an outstanding selection of hummingbird and butterfly plants for the south, but many will work here in Wisconsin as well. In particular, they offer Stacytarpheta, which is almost impossible to find by mail order. Plant quality and customer service are very high.

-Vincent Gardens (www.vincentgardens.com): Another nursery of south that is new on the scene. They offer a really amazing selection of salvias for a small nursery and send a beautiful informational card for each plant with your order. Plant quality is outstanding and customer service is wonderful. They have an interesting new Salvia guarantica (which is huge, 4’ x 5’!!), called Salvia guaranitica ‘Betsy’s Choice’ (we plan to give this one a try to see how it differs from other guaraniticas and Salvia ‘Purple Majesty’.)

-A World of Salvias/Richard DuFresne (http://www.worldofsalvias.com/plntlist.htm): Richard is an expert on salvias and has developed many hybrids of agastache and salvia. His ordering process can be a little cumbersome (you need to e-mail Richard first to see if plants are available), but selection is outstanding and prices and shipping are very reasonable. Please try and support Richard if you can.

-High Country Gardens (www.highcountrygardens.com) : This nursery went out of business briefly after being on the scene for 29 years citing the drought, the bad economy, and other factors as being the reasons, but then came back as mail order only. They offer an excellent and unique range of plants for the southwest and a decent selection of plants for hummingbirds that will also work in the Midwest. Their range of penstemon, agastache, and salvia greggii is hard to beat, especially if you have sandy or poor soil (we could have done well with so many of their plants in last summer’s drought!). Go to their website to sign up for e-mails.

-Bluestone Perennials (www.bluestoneperennials.com): A good general selection of perennials, shrubs and vines and some great plants for hummingbirds including agastache, Salvia guarantica ‘Black and Blue’ and Salvia greggii. We used to tell people that plants from this nursery came in cost saving three packs, but that is no longer the case. They’ve upped their quality and cost to the customer with single biodegradable pots, but we applaud their efforts to be more green. They also grow most of their plants onsite, which is a rare occurrence in the nursery trade these days. Watch for frequent sales to economize.

HUMMINGBIRD NESTCAM---LET THE FUN BEGIN!!

At this cold and snowy time of the year, checking in on a live hummingbird nest can be the best entertainment. Babies of an Allen’s hummingbird in southern California hatched on January 13. The following is excerpted from the homeowner’s website about the hummingbird sitting on the nest. It is truly fascinating to follow the progress of the nest as the babies are fed and prepare to fledge.

How the Live Webcam Got Started

Living in Southern California, we are blessed to be joined by numerous species of birds and several years ago we noticed a hummingbird setting up her nest in our yard. What amazed us is we thought it would be a one-time event, but she kept coming back year after year. After several years, we thought it would be fun to get a closer look and set up our first webcam in 2007. As the number of viewers grew, in March 2009 we moved the broadcast to Ustream.tv, and the number of viewers exploded and we had climbed to the most popular birding site on the web (Fat Birder's Top 1000 Birding Website). In less than a year, we had over 2 million views, and by the 2nd year are over 12 million. Phoebe has a dedicated community of followers from all around the world, and we love hearing that school children are learning about hummingbirds with the help of our webcam and that Phoebe has inspired visual artists, musicians, poets, and more.

Who is Phoebe?

Phoebe is a non-migratory Channel Islands Allen's Hummingbird (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen's_Hummingbird). She builds her nests in a rose bush, and the nest is about the size of a golf ball, with eggs being about the size of a tic-tac candy (Egg Pics). The season for nesting is October through May/early June, and Phoebe will lay four to five clutches per season. Two eggs are laid per clutch, they hatch after 17 days, and the chicks typically fly three to four weeks later. Phoebe will sometimes build a new nest, but frequently repairs old nests.

To visit Phoebe’s website for more information, go to: http://phoebeallens.com

To access the webcam, click on the following link:

http://www.ustream.tv/hummingbirdnestcam

Have fun viewing this miracle of nature!!

2013 JUAN BAHAMON HUMMINGBIRD CALENDAR

Juan Bahamon is a dedicated and truly outstanding professional photographer (he is also a physician!) of birds of the tropics and in particular, hummingbirds. Each year he creates a wonderful hummingbird calendar. The calendar is huge and not only displays amazing photos, but provides a detailed account of how and where that bird lives. Although it is rather expensive, we purchase this great calendar every year and wouldn’t miss it. We encourage you to support Juan (who is also a really nice and genuine person) and his work by purchasing his calendar. To learn more and to purchase, here is the link:

http://www.birdsofcorpuschristi.com/

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

ü February 8-10, 2013: Dane County Garden Expo----Alliant Energy Center http://www.wigardenexpo.com/

ü April 7-17, 2013: Bird Banding at Fort Morgan, Alabama (free and open to the public). Please contact Bob or Martha Sargent at rubythroat@aol.com for more information.

ü May 18, 2013: Michael and Kathi Rock Hummingbird Program at Wildbirds Unlimited in Middleton, WI ,http://madison.wbu.com/content/show/26310,(608) 664-1414.