WOW

I haven't seen or heard my hummies in a few days.. I hope they didn't leave my area.

Skiekitty said:I haven't seen or heard my hummies in a few days.. I hope they didn't leave my area.

Maybe they're just busy finding mates & "doing their thing". ??

I have seen a Rufous male and female, and a Calliope male today.

Margaret - *jealous!!!* Rufous are my favorites!! I love the bright orange ones!! And calliopes are SOO cute.. so teeny!!

Toni, I would love to get more photos of them but they get scared away just about every time I get the camera out.

In a way, I've done something remotely like this. Only I just put out pieces of old fruit in a dish or open container.

http://www.worldofhummingbirds...

The aphids have been tearing up my gaura for several weeks & 1 is located within a few feet of 1 of the hummer feeders but no one wants to eat the aphids. We had ladybugs here like crazy when the temps were warming from winter & I haven't seen a single lady bug since March at least. I never use pesticides. I finally resorted to soap on the gaura & the aphids are still out of control on it. I simply don't know why no lady bugs nor hummers are eating them. When the wrens had their nest months ago, they were eating them but nothing since. I'm at a loss. I've heard if you douse aphids with water 4 consecutive days, you will break their breeding cycle & get rid of them. Well, it has poured buckets here for well over 4 days in a row & it didn't make a dent in the aphid population. So far, I don't see them on anything else. Keeping fingers crossed.

Ann - I've heard using a Dawn dish detergent soap mixture in a spray bottle works. Can you buy lady bugs?

Toni, yes you can buy lady bugs, but I was told they only hang around for about a day before they fly off to other gardens, and it cost $17. dollars for them so I didn't buy them.

OUCH. They're like $3 here. I bought a bag of ladybugs 3 years ago & they hung around for like a week. The following year, I had a bazillion ladybugs! Haven't seen any yet this year, but, at the same time, haven't seen any aphids either.

Toni, I'm allergic to Dawn. Hey, Palmolive works just as well only for some reason, this year, nothing seems to be working. Had a gazillion & one ladybugs earlier in the year ~~~ I figure they gotta be somewhere nearby. Maybe they're having such a feast this year that they can pick & choose. Weird thing is, the aphids are only on the bloom stems not on the leaves. It's like this, this is what's happening this year. Next year something else will be happening & the gaura will be left alone & once again will look beautiful. Nature's cycles you know.

Any liquid soap works well. I use Ivory for bugs.

Karen

Thanks Karen, I used Palmolive but they still persist. Going to make up another batch of soap & give it another go. Glen posted a link for a recipe so I'll try one of those.

Cute little guy

Great pic of that cute little guy!

Too good.

Thanks Christine and Gleni. Waited about a half hour for this guy to get in the right position. Rainy all day. This was the only keeper of 22 shots.

Excellent shot Dave!
1 in 22 is really not bad. You take tons of shots & then sort through them usually ditching 99% of them.