Not really :-) The coastal areas of the PNW are home to Anna's hummingbirds year round and there's many folks in coastal BC, western WA and OR and California that enjoy these little guys all year. We had a rather mild fall and my garden was still showing a lot of color until Thanksgiving so I'm not surprised you noticed their presence later than normal. Once they find suitable foraging material, they tend to visit often and the later in the season it got, the more appeal your feeder took on. In my garden, I tend to do just the opposite from you......I put my feeder UP in fall and take it down in midspring. I've got more than enough nectar choices to keep them happy and hanging around during the growing season but like to supplement even my winter blooming hummingbird plants with a feeder during the offseason. And since it is hanging right in front of my dining room window, it gives me something to look at when the garden generally doesn't have a lot to say for itself :-) The image of these little guys perching in my icy, snow-covered coral bark maple tree is winter picture worth more than a thousand words!! ps. they are heavy insect feeders as well, obtaining a lot of needed protein from this source, so I tend not to do much fall garden clean-up so as to keep them and my other feathered visitors well-fed through the winter.

Judi where are you located? Do you know what kind of hummingbird you have? We are on the east side in Spokane WA and today we got our first real snow. 'Annabelle' our Annas hummingbird seemed to be fine today and did spend alot of time under our deck at her heated feeder out of the snow fall. In the morning she comes to her window feeder for her long drink but sips at the other feeder hanging on edge of upper deck which is the one she guards all day long.

I think that the Farmer's Almanac is predicting a colder than normal winter, with good winter precipitation for our region. The NOAA probably won't release theirs until Mid-October. I for one am hoping for a nice cold winter with lots of snow (but not ice). It's about time winter lived up to its billing.

Meadow Lark -- welcome to the neighborhood. I live on the PG/Charles Counties line about 40 minutes north of Leonardtown. The soil where I am is sandy but also full of gravel, which makes digging, etc. very difficult. Check out your soil when you're looking at propoerty. It changes from locale to locale. I've planted Japanese maples that I've gotten at the Mid-Atlatnic swaps, and they are doing very well. Keep your eye on the forum for notices of the swaps. We hold them twice a year in May and in late September. It's a great chance to meet everyone, enjoy a community potluck and swap extras for plants that you can be pretty sure will do well in this region. And, if you don't have anything to swap, that's fine. Come and meet everyone. good luck on your move Eric