I haven't seen any hummingbirds yet. Then again, the only blooms in our yard right now are tulips, daffodils, iris, harlequin flowers, azaleas, and pansies... a few dianthus. The brugmansia and lantana are showing green two months early. The ginger lilies, cannas, asclepias, and elephant ears seem a bit early too. Passion flower, clematis, columbine, and gerbera daisies all have large flower buds on them. Easter lilies started popping up in December, oddly enough. First year I've noticed them doing that. Oh! The big box store astilbes that I thought had died started coming up earlier this month. Very excited about those! If I had known spring was going to come this early... Well, it seemed more like summer a few days this past week... I would have started seeds in early February or late January. Now I'm scrambling to get everything sown before it becomes too warm! A few cold nights ahead, so hopefully the late winter sown containers will catch up with the others. Jeff

The reason the background is black is because in order to freeze the wings I have to use a flash, then deliberately underexpose the photograph so that the only light available for the photo is the flash. This makes the background black.

Yes, female hummers will guard territory.

The red flowers really stand out on that feeder so it's probably easier for the hummers to find the nectar. Is the bottom clear so you can see if the solution is cloudy on the bottom? I wonder if it could get contaminated at the ports and still look clear in the main bottle. Nice looking feeder and it allows the hummers to perch if they want. Claire