May 15, 2007
he
hummingbirds have shown back up in the last few days. Mostly the males. They did
that last year too. The males show up about 2 weeks before the females. One of
my favorite things to 
do
is stand with my head against one of the log uprights for the porch and have my
face about 8" away from the hummingbird feeder. From time to time they are
so close they hit me with their wings.
I think the types of hummingbirds we have are Calliope, Rufus, Ruby Throated, Anna's and I think the one pictured is Allen's.
If you are lucky enough to have hummingbirds too, put up a feeder for them. Mine cost about $12 and it is glass and metal with ivy leaves & handpainted hummingbords on it. Mix up warm water 4 parts to 1 part of sugar and do not add any red dye as it can be toxic to them. Most red food dyes are coal tar derived. They are not that good for you humans either. Hanging a hummingbird feeder means assuming a certain amount of responsibility. If you are not prepared to follow the rigorous maintenance routine, perhaps you should consider planting a hummingbird garden instead.
We also have more
flowers in bloom now. My Grape Hyacinths are coming up like mad and 
multiplying.
My West Virginia garlic which I was crying over that I lost this winter, is back
and multiplying. I am in love with that garlic as I found it on an old
(ex) family homestead which was towering over my head and after dismissing them
as weird grass, my nose took over and I realized they were a huge feral garlic
field. I took some top-set seed back with me to prevent any soil diseases and
grew them out for a few years. I selected for a few traits and won best garlic
at Clackamas Country Fair and Oregon State Fair a few years later. Then I
brought top-set seed to Canada 2 years ago and thought they froze out last
winter. I am pleased to say I will have about 60+ to plant back this year and we
can finally harvest them for the kitchen in 2008.
(And yes.. we fenced all day.. but it was getting boring to talk about and required a change of topic.)