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As middle age is upon us, the time for birdwatching is here. I swear, something happens when you turn 40 and the bird books and binoculars come calling. So here we are- embracing the birding in all its glory. I recently noticed a couple little hummingbirds in our yard buzzing around looking for food. I got inspired to do a little yard project and wanted to put in some plants that would be good for our local and migrating pollinators. At first I thought I'd wait until spring time but after doing some research, I realized that hummingbirds will be migrating through our area until November. I decided to seize the day and get cracking on my project. I took Ken with me out to the Tree Farm Nursery and Garden south of Longmont. They have a dizzying array of plants and trees to choose from and the helpful folks there pointed us in the direction of some plants which would attract the hummingbirds to our yard. We got 7 plants in total and here are the plants they most recommended: Red Hot Poker Plant (Photo Courtesy of Tree Farm Nursery and Garden/Terra Nova Nurseries) |
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Orange Carpet Hummingbird Trumpet (Photo Courtesy of Tree Farm Nursery and Garden/Arbortanics) |
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Butterfly Bush (Photo Courtesy of Tree Farm Nursery and Garden/Proven Winners) |
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I also added two hummingbird feeders I already had (and had not done so well with in years past) and a bird bath. It was quite a project to get the plants in over the last week and get the feeders going (all with the "help" of a 2-year-old who was consistently moving around the tools we needed) but all in all, I have to say it has been a total and complete success. Within the first day, we had several little birds hanging out in the yard, taking full advantage of all the plants and feeders. Here are a couple of photos we got from the yard this last week: |
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I've also upped my game with the feeders. In years past, I wasn't changing out the solution enough so now I'm only putting in a few ounces at a time and I'm rinsing them out every other day. Instead of using a store bought hummingbird nectar, I am making my own every few days and storing it in the fridge (it's 1 cup sugar to 4 cups water, boiled on the stove until the sugar dissolves- quick and easy!) It's been really fun to hang in the backyard and watch the little birds buzzing around, darting in and out, fighting a bit with each other, and resting in the trees around our yard. |
