Hummer News – Vol. 11 – July 2010

Recent Observed Activity

No question about it, around here in New England, July is the start of the highest activity at all locations I have the chance to visit. At home in Massachusetts, the arrival of July marked a very noticeable increase in visits and nectar consumption at all my feeders. This past weekend I enjoyed one of the most intense viewing periods ever, anywhere, at my friend’s home in Watertown, Connecticut. Multiple birds, with many “dust-ups” between aggressive male territory barons and as many as two or three “encroachers” were the norm all weekend long. It was simply mesmerizing, making it difficult to accomplish much outside of the feeder viewing area.

As I write this edition, anticipating our family’s celebration of my mother’s 90th birthday, by the ocean in South Orleans, Massachusetts, I can see several nectar feeders with regular and relaxed visitors, here in the deep heart of summer. At least around here, this is the time of year we wait for when the living is airy and light and our lovely humming jewels are in abundance.

Ant Moat Solution

I envy those of you who report that they never have ant problems with any of their feeders. It is never an issue with my Foto Feeders™ as ants rarely traverse our window panes, but hanging feeders are another story. I have a couple of my four-tube Roseburg™ feeders deployed and ant moats are essential. I am sure many of you use these hanging hooks that incorporate a water barrier in some sort of container suspended between the two ends. I make my own by melting a tiny hole in the bottom half of a plastic drink bottle. I push a length of wire coat hanger through the hole and make a hook at each end. Then, I seal the hole around the wire with hot glue. They work very well, with the exception of one problem I’d had for a long time – chickadees and titmice seem to prefer drinking out of these to all the fresh sparkling water I always provide with the mister and bird baths.

Not a huge problem, but annoying for several reasons. When a hummer is feeding, if a bird lands to drink, it shakes everything and will often discourage the hummer. In really hot weather, evaporation added to bird drinking does empty the cups much faster, requiring diligence I sometimes don’t muster. So, I show up, the cups are empty and the tubes are inundated with ants. Some people suggest using all cooking oil or a layer of cooking oil, which does discourage the birds. However, the first rainstorm splashes the oil all over the nectar tubes below, making a sticky, hard to clean mess.

One afternoon, I really pondered the question and wondered if tea or coffee might discourage them. However, the idea of caffeine powered chickadees and titmice buzzing the ant moats quickly ruled that out. What wouldn’t they like, that wouldn’t hurt them? The answer presented itself and I was taken by the simplicity – salt!! Birds near the ocean do not drink seawater. So, I looked to see if there were any health issues with birds and salt water and, finding none, put the idea in action. I mixed a very concentrated salt solution, added it to the ant moat cups and grabbed a seat to see if my idea would work. Only one titmouse tried more than one sip and each of those was followed by a head shake and spray out. Everyone happily drinks at the provided water now and my ant moats maintenance requirements are a fraction of what they once were

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Happy Hummer Mid-Summer everyone!!

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