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meandering Wa
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PostFri Nov 20, 2015 6:53 pm 
not that I have noticed. sometimes when people learn to see birds ( that have been there all along) they think it is some sudden uptick. I think my yard male had 2 females this year.

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lookout bob
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PostFri Nov 20, 2015 6:58 pm 
I've had two hummer feeders in my yard for years. I increase the sugar percentage in the winter and take them inside after dark on the coldest nights. When it's freezing during the day, if I see them frozen, I put them in the microwave until warm and then set them back out again. The hummers sure love super sweet WARM nectar!!! cool.gif

"Altitude is its own reward" John Jerome ( from "On Mountains")
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marta
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PostFri Nov 20, 2015 7:24 pm 
We usually just bring them in when we know it is going to freeze over night. They hang out until we put them back out. We are using the 1 part sugar to 3 parts water. How long do the handwarmers last? We may be gone a couple of days and are wondering if that would be a good option while we are gone.

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DIYSteve
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PostSat Nov 21, 2015 8:48 am 
Right, if you see a hummer in western WA in the winter, it's an Anna's Hummingbird. Prior to 1970 or so, there were few or no Anna's in western WA. Their range expanded N from SoCal, then to NoCal, then to OR, then to WA and now into BC as a result of hummingbird feeders and exotic plants. I'm not sure whether Anna's Hummingbird count numbers are currently on an increasing trend in western WA, but IME there seem to be more in Seattle than there were 10 years ago.

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wolffie
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PostMon Nov 23, 2015 4:20 pm 
There are many varieties of hardy upright fuchsias that bloom until there's snow on them. Hummers love them. At 400' in Seattle, mine no longer always die back to the ground in winter. Ridiculously easy to propagate by cuttings.

Some people have better things to do with their lives than walking the dog. Some don't.
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boot up
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boot up
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PostSun Nov 29, 2015 6:34 pm 
somehow, I just can't see duct taping handwarmers, that are only good for 8 hours, as being a practical, cost effective, "green" solution to keeping the nectar thawed. I figured there must be some products filling this niche, but I am shocked to find only one very kludge and not well defined product available for anyone to anty up the bucks. And the DIY solutions are generally pretty sad and many of them have significant safety concerns in an outdoor environment. I notice a lot of the DIY solutions do not seem to take into account that you would like to refill the nectar at regular intervals. I also prefer the easier to clean and track level "pan type" feeder. Even less (safe) options. Since I am laid up with a leg in a temporary cast and can't do much but elevate it and read the internet, I poked around a bit for a good solution. There are bird bath warmers. Seems like a good idea, but they only work submerged. Oh well. There are some screw into a light bulb heater elements for terrarium use. Nice idea if you can be sure it will stay dry, and its very bulky to attach to the feeder. So far, and I am open to other ideas, but the best bet seems to be a small terrarium heating pad, which is generally sealed enough for rain, maybe attach that to a silicone "hot pad" and then bungie or spring attach that under the feeder, hooking onto the landing rail on the feeder. Cord management would be to attach the cord to pole or wall with zip ties, with enough service loop to pop the bungies when changing the nectar. You can get a thermostat controlled plug module, so it isn't on all the time, from amazon for about $15. And a coupler weather seal clamshell for the connection of the heater to extension cord. Requires an outdoor outlet of course. My frustration is my iWalk peg leg is not rated for ice use, so I can't get to our hummingbird feeder while I am out of commission to test the theory and work out the bugs and make it. And my wife is already maxed out just taking it in and out every few days when it frozen solid as a brick for the last couple of days. This is what happens when you strand a bored engineer with a fused ankle.

friluftsliv
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Dalekz
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PostFri Dec 18, 2015 7:02 pm 
We used this company Watlow http://watlow.com/products/heaters/ht_flex.cfm at work to heat gel in a tube to a specific melting point controlling the heat with a use of temp controller. Ours had an adhesive on one side to be able to glue on the tube. Their neoprene-silicone enclosed heaters could be adapted to heating the hummingbird feeder and bu using one of those power adapters 120v down to 6-10V. There may be other companies out there that have similar products that may be cheaper to buy.

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Nancyann
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PostFri Dec 18, 2015 8:48 pm 
I have been successfully using the three to one mix that IanB suggested for over a month now. It has been as low as 20 degrees quite a few mornings, and so far, the mixture has not frozen in a variety of shapes and sizes of feeders. I have not brought any of them in at night. Apparently, the extra sugar acts as an anti-freeze? I started with just one hummingbird and now have at least three. They are nice and plump! The only problem they have is when the winds are really fierce, and I think I can tie a long string to a rock on the ground under the feeders to help stabilize them. Am spoiling them with organic cane sugar currently. wink.gif

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