I think the surveyor's tape works...I gave some to my husband's niece too. It seemed to work for her also. She had tried only a few times to feed them in years past. His nephew (lives about 3 blocks away) has been feeding hummers for many years. They all live in the UP of Michigan & there's tons of RTHs there. There's nothing more fun than getting dive bombed by a hummer & watching (or trying to watch) the the activity at all their feeders. I had always thought the southern tier states had all the hummers until we went north. WOW!

HenBoy, Yes he will know when to leave. It is the shortening of the daylight hours that triggers the migration. Generally those that stay behind are the ones that are too old or possibly ill that instinctively know that they can't make the journey. Penny

Thanks for the status from the different states, it's been bugging me. I work from home and usually see quite a few - two rose breasted grosbeaks is a very low number for me. So far not a single blue grosbeak. But seems like people both north and south of me have migrants, just a bit straggled out. builder24car - I don't even want to hear that you have painted buntings! Gah, make me jealous whydontcha? I've never even seen one. :D

That's beautiful, Robert. I love the way you've crossed and trimmed the vine. I've never seen that before. Very elegant. They look terrific against your grey fence, really perfect there. Mine are 4 years old this spring, They are extremely vigorous, growing fast and strong and blooming all summer, getting much bigger than the catalogues said they would. They are stunning in May, just a wall of red, and bloom mostly all summer from May to frost. After seeing hummers darting in and out of them late last summer I wouldn't give them up for anything else. Even the thicket behind the blooms has to be a wonderful place for bird's nests or sheltering.