Had a female hummingbird in my garden from early August to early September. Not only a huge thrill because of what it was, but also because my garden is only 18 months old, having been started from a bare yard. I'm right downtown in a small city, on a residential street of old Victorian houses only one block from the commercial core. My backyard is about 50' wide by 30' deep, but half the width is taken up by gravel driveway on top of the concrete floor slab of the former garage. The plantable half I've crammed with fruit bushes for myself and the birds,and butterfly bushes and perennials for butterflies (and hummingbirds, but I didn't really expect any!). The little hummingbird came first to the scarlet monarda, then the Black Knight Butterfly bush, but also checked out all the plants in both my garden and my neighbour's. I had a feeder out for her second visit, and she came regularly, several times a day, for about three and a half weeks; I could tell when she was in the garden from her high-pitched tseeping sound. I spotted her favourite perches, but I know this wasn't her only hangout - between visits she flew off at least a block or more, until I lost track of her. Many days, she would let me sit about 6 feet from the feeder and watch her. She didn't like my cat wandering about freely, but was okay if I held him on my lap. I understand that they often remember good feeding locations and return each year if they can. I hope she has a safe migration, and brings a friend or two next year - I'm giving all my neighbours hummingbird feeders for Christmas and offers of plants from my garden in the spring!! I'm also putting raised vegetable beds on top of the driveway, and letting the monarda spread a bit more. Don't give up hope just because you think your area is 'too urban'!

I love the baby bats clinging to their mom's belly as they fly and nectar. And the amazing detail of the faces of the bees. And the music fits so well. I never get tired of seeing this film. In the speech the creator mentioned that these were "exerts from the film". I'd love to see the entire thing. Martha

I hope your baby hummer made a successful departure by now. If so, look around and if you hear chirping from a tree near the nest, that the baby calling its mother. FYI, there is an amazing DVD about baby hummingbirds called, "First Flight: A Mother Hummingbird's Story" You can watch whole sequence of events in beautiful close ups. Highly recommend since you, too became attached to your hummers. You will appreciate this film. There is a trailer you can watch on their website: www.hummingbirdstory.com Here is a link that might be useful: hummingbird movie

Yes, I love this forum. Thank you everyone for sharing. Gloria, we had to send off for another birth certificate a few weeks ago. Sad thing is that's one of the things we actually have a designated space for. It just wasn't put back the previous time it was needed. One of my problems is the "I may need it one day" factor. This has been made worse by the fact that so much manufacturing has gone offshore. I know if I need to buy another one I'll probably have to settle for a cheap Asian import. As well as keeping things I'll probably never use again because they just don't make them like that any more, I've stocked up on new things, Last week I found one of my stockpiles of underwear. Just before DS went from boys to mens sizes the shops stopped selling the Aussie and NZ made boys underwear and the cheap stuff we had to buy for a couple of years wore out very quickly. Mens sizes are available both local and imported. So I found my little stockpile but about half a dozen packets were in a size DS has already outgrown. Having said that, we have found some good brands made overseas. But you guessed it. That just leads to more stockpiling. Oh dear, they only have a few left in the right size and the desired colour - we'd better buy them all.