I love 30 mins of watering potted plants. But when "permanent" landscaping plants need that kind of attention, I feel helpless about it. I don't want to live where there is snow to shovel OR heat like that. Most summers here, the highest temp flirts with but doesn't get to 100. I've always wanted to live on Gilligan's Island, no cold, no sweating.

I put drip irrigation on all my potted plants and soakers on the garden just so we could go on a garden get away nursery hunt weekend . With horse trailer in tow..

I've seen only one hummer around lately. Seems to be taking it easy when possible in the late blooming Texas Firecracker, Anisacanthus wrightii

I love when they find a lazy perch to dine and rest at the same time!

purpleinopp said: I would not be able to live in that heat. How do you stand it?!

I hate it here to he honest. Hell. It's hell. I do what I must

I believe it. No place is perfect, pros & cons for any place. That's how I feel about July & August, but then I remind myself how that discomfort is much less uncomfortable than months of air so dry that there is static in my hair and a much shorter growing season.

And I never saw a hummingbird until I moved to AL.

Frenetic activity at dusk... no time to wipe the pollen off her head!

Beautiful capture, Zoë! I love the pollenhead look, mine get it from the Spanish Flag and just look hilarious in the fall.

Zoe, I haven't seen any hummers for at least 10 days now. I was even of thinking taking down the last feeder.

My numbers are way down too. This might be a lone straggler. I don't have feeders, so if it wants to keep sipping at the remaining salvia, I can't prevent it. I just don't want anyone to get caught in a freeze.

I took mine down Wednesday when we had our two remaining pine trees removed and didn't put it back up. We haven't seen or heard anyone in a week or so and the feeder looked all but untouched when I did take it down to clean it/replace the sugar water (usually there's gunk in a hole or two--- dirty beaks apparently ).

I keep forgetting there's a separate discussion for hummies. They are still around here. I've seen one visiting Camellias in Feb. before. I'm not convinced that all of them migrate.

they don't all migrate, we are supposed to leave feeders out til nov, but i don't, there are warmer areas 30 miles south of me and nurseries they prefer to be visiting. took up my last feeder today and cleaned it.

purpleinopp said: I keep forgetting there's a separate discussion for hummies. They are still around here. I've seen one visiting Camellias in Feb. before. I'm not convinced that all of them migrate.

Old, sick, and young will try and over winter if they are too weak to make the journey

And in some places, like the west coast, we have year rounders. Non migratory charms

There are some articles about research that indicates otherwise.

http://www.hummingbirdresearch...
https://feederwatch.org/learn/...
https://southeasternavianresea...
https://www.al.com/living/2011...
https://journeynorth.org/tm/hu...

Tiffany, first link doesn't work. Others are interesting and informative, thanks.

Happy to share. : ) I've been curious ever since I saw one in the coldest part of winter.

The first one is a .pdf from Journal of Field Ornithology. I would paste it here but it's very long. I'll be happy to paste it in a tree mail if you or anyone else would like to read it that way.

That's okay. Plenty of other info there!

Zoë, the first link works fine for me. It might be something with your browser, an add-on blocking the page, or you're not set up to read PDF files, or possibly even a corrupt cache (search for "hummingbirdresearch.net" in your list of cookies, and delete any listed for it, but I'm betting it's one of the other issues).