Wow, I only saw this post as a "generic want-to-share" post. I do hope the hummer made it. We have an outside cat and an inside cat. We only have the outside cat as we were kind enough to take care of her as she came to our house pregnant, underfed and neglected, from my neighbor's house. Now I have 3 kittens the "no kill" rescue center is taking next week. The momma cat has been staying inside recovering from surgery, at our expense, so no more kitties for her! I used to see nothing wrong with outside pets, but I have changed my opinion in the last few years. This does not change the fact that MANY people here have outside cats and dogs. A lot of residents in our proximity have acreage and barns. They "use" the outside cats to catch mice and snakes. For us, however, we have buried too many cats that have been hit by cars and had one outside cat that had Aids and had to be put to sleep! This is when I said no more outside cats or dogs. I would love to give my outside dog away. He barks all the time and drives me crazy. He barks at deer or opossum. I never want another dog (just a personal matter here everyone, so don't be too hard on me.) Our inside cat is a Siamese we adopted from the shelter and she hates other cats. That's fine with me, as this means no more inside cats, so no double the poop to scoop! Honestly, we did see a lot of adult cats at Petsmart that we could have brought home with us in a heartbeat, but our cat rules the house! The momma cat will be put outside tomorrow. I do hope she goes back to our neighbor's house and stays there, but I know this is only a dream. Why would you leave a gourmet feast for no food at all, LOL!

Hey Guys and gals! Sorry I have been out of touch! Lightning struck my modem, you know and I have had problems getting back on line ever since! I am at my best friend's business, with 3 modems and driver discs so I should be on line by when I get home after 6:30 CST. (He is my PC advisor) I have some great new photos to share! Some I even wonder if it's truly wise to put them on the web, as they could very well have commercial value, but hey, you only live once, right? And I am blessed with every thing I need anyway, LOLOh and BTW that blue morning glory is called "Clark's Heavenly Blue," and my wife Sheila's favorite color. Anyway, remaining in His grip, Dan

I don't know which they like better, since I've never put up a feeder. But I do know that with flowers alone, you can attract regular visits from the hummingbirds! Each year, there are more flowers growing in the gardens than the last. Once the Bee Balm (Monarda didyma) goes into full bloom, the hummers will visit the flowers regularly until they are ready to leave in the fall. After the Bee Balm, the Lobelia cardinalis blooms, and then the Salvia splendens and coccinea, and the Cardinal climber. These are all hummingbird favorites. The flowers seem to be visited about every 15-20 mintues. Often I'll see 2 hummers, tussling and chasing each other around the flowers and yard. Last summer, there were 2 females fighting over the Lobelia cardinalis, and a male flew into the fracas, probably the mate of one of the females. Three hummingbirds were the most I've seen at one time. I have a very native and natural backyard, so their needs for habitat and insects are satisfied as well. It also helps that a couple of the neighbors have nice gardens too.

I have 3 nesting pairs of Bullocks orioles they were having a hard time eating from the hummingbird feeders so i drilled out the holes to a larger size. Then i found a oriole feeder at the thrift shop. Then i hung orange slices and put half oranges on a platform. then put a plastic lid about 1/2 inch deep on the platform and filled it with orange juice and pieces of fruit, watermelon, plums or cherrys and apricots now have evening grosbeaks and orioles all the time. Also this year after the young orioles started coming to eat have 11 small orioles here in and out every little bit from daylight to dark. go through 2 to 3 quarts of sugar water and 1 to 2 cups of fresh orange juice and lots of fruit every day. Here the Orioles disappear from late August to early Sept. and show back up in mid april to first part of May to nest.