Y'all are so lucky. I just get the RTs, but that's still outstanding. I've only been HB'ing for 4 years now and started because they were frequenting my garden. I raise and release butterflies so a lot of their plants are attractive to hummers too, like salvias, lantana, passion vines, cosmos, verbena bonariensis, pentas, cypress vine, honeysuckle. I see my hummers all day long from dawn to dusk. Do they fly at night? Seems like they never rest! Have fun at your festival and let us know how it goes. Susan

If you want to see hummers by the dozens in central Texas without leaving your seat on the couch, just go to my dad's house, near Bastrop and Smithville - lol! I have never seen so many hummers, all year long, as at his place. He has only three or four feeders out but the numbers of the little critters is astounding. Oh, and not only hummers but birds of all kinds, such as bluebirds, painted buntings, cardinals, etc., etc., etc. I sit in the living room and look out the window at one particular feeder and am amazed. At my own house, northwest of Houston, I think I have a couple of mockingbirds.......maybe some blue jays and a cardinal once in a while. I keep trying to attract more but the mockingbird(s) run every one off! Once I spotted a blue bird hovering near the house and I ran to get my glasses and when I came back out the door, I was just in time to see the resident mockingbird chase him off - grrrrr! lt, your house must be amazing also and I cannot imagine keeping up with so many feeders! I am always finding hummingbirds in my garage and I have to catch them in a net and get them out. Sometimes I just find a dead one *gasp*. They can never find their way back out the door. Hope the celebration has a good turnout of people and birds! Lynn

If you live in an area that freezes, you really need to bring the birdbath inside for the winter. No matter what you do, the tiles can pop off as the piece expands and contracts in the cold. That being said, I did a birdbath last spring and it is holding up great. I did mine on a terra cotta saucer, but the process should still be the same. I started with a 14" terra cotta saucer like the ones that go underneath clay pots. I rinsed it out and made sure it was free of debris. After it dried, I applied three coats of a penetrating sealer for tile and grout. The one I am using has a 5-year warranty and is a matte finish. There are many products on the market that have a 20-year warranty but they are much more expensive and since I am new to this, I didn't want to go to the extra expense right now. A couple of days after I applied the sealer I adhered the tiles with a pre-mixed concrete patch. Since I was working in the house I didn't want to try and mix my own mortar or thinset. I used the indirect method by designing it on contact paper first then laying it in the bottom of the saucer after I put a thin layer of the concrete patch on the bottom. I used vitreous glass tiles with some light blue glass nuggets in the center. I kept the design very simple as I was not in the mood to cut a bunch of tiles. After three days of letting the adhesive dry, I grouted it with a gray sanded grout using Admix as the liquid. I sealed it with the same matte finish penetrating sealer after the grout cured for several days. I think the most important thing is that the adhesive and the grout have sufficient time to set before use. Good luck with your project. Here is a link that might be useful:

A standing birdbath on the patio has gotten only limited use for several years. Also far from the house and a pain to keep clean. This year I bought one of those deck-railing birdbaths. It's only steps from the kitchen so easy to keep clean in hot weather, and it's being used for both drinking and baths. The red-headed sparrows that drink from the ant cups unfortunately still use the ant cups as well as the birdbath. Well who wouldn't like to have two sources of water? :) I thought a brick too high so used a small flagstone type stone and a couple of 3-4 inch river rocks in the middle. However, they drink from the edge.