It's raining again. Or, rather, it was when I started this post, in the blogger widget back on my Google homepage. No matter: it will rain again soon, just like it has for the past three days. Or is it four?
I don't know if it's because of the rain or just normal fall migration, but all the hummingbird activity is making our backyard look like O'Hare. Or the Death Star-- I haven't decided which.
It's also made things very, very green. (And muddy, but I prefer to gloss over that bit.) Maybe that's why I've been focusing on green salsa lately. I haven't made salsa verde in a long time, mainly because my husband and friends love the red stuff so much that it's all they ask for. I made some salsa verde last night, though, and it's a good thing I did because that's when I realized that I made a mistake in this article at Examiner.com. It's been changed now, but the original might have led to exploding tomatillos in the homes of my readers, and that would have been bad for everybody.
I've written an article about tomatillos, too. Find it here.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Grrr.
I have just figured out that when your iGoogle homepage refreshes, it eats the post in the blogger widget instead of oh, say, saving it or even publishing the damn thing. I am NOT happy.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Hummingbirds.
It's August, and that means hummingbird season is in full swing. All the juveniles have left the nest and there are new arrivals every day. I'm guessing that a lot of them are migrators, since the hummingbird fall migration started in early August.
The adult male hummingbirds migrate first, followed by the females and both male and female juvenile hummers when they've put on enough weight to make the trip. My backyard hummingbird population is mostly female, although a couple of them seem seem to be sporting five o'clock shadows, which tells me that they're juvenile males. It's too early to tell whether they're ruby throated or black chinned hummingbirds, yet. I have female "customers" of both species, so it could be either breed.
Lately, the hummingbird action is all about who owns the feeders. Usually, it involves one or more of my resident females chasing off a male ruby throated hummingbird who has popped by for a quick sip of nectar. Sometimes, it's the other way around.
Yesterday, four hummingbirds -- two females, one male and one sex not available-- spent quite a lot of time chasing each other around the feeders, through the crepe myrtles and doing figure-eights around the tomatoes planted in the topsy turveys. It was hard to tell who was chasing who, and I'm not sure they knew themselves!
I've written an article with a hummingbird nectar recipe and some feeder tips. You can find it here.
I've also written about hummingbird gardening. You can find an article about heat tolerant plants to attract hummingbirds here.
The adult male hummingbirds migrate first, followed by the females and both male and female juvenile hummers when they've put on enough weight to make the trip. My backyard hummingbird population is mostly female, although a couple of them seem seem to be sporting five o'clock shadows, which tells me that they're juvenile males. It's too early to tell whether they're ruby throated or black chinned hummingbirds, yet. I have female "customers" of both species, so it could be either breed.
Lately, the hummingbird action is all about who owns the feeders. Usually, it involves one or more of my resident females chasing off a male ruby throated hummingbird who has popped by for a quick sip of nectar. Sometimes, it's the other way around.
Yesterday, four hummingbirds -- two females, one male and one sex not available-- spent quite a lot of time chasing each other around the feeders, through the crepe myrtles and doing figure-eights around the tomatoes planted in the topsy turveys. It was hard to tell who was chasing who, and I'm not sure they knew themselves!
I've written an article with a hummingbird nectar recipe and some feeder tips. You can find it here.
I've also written about hummingbird gardening. You can find an article about heat tolerant plants to attract hummingbirds here.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
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