Posts Tagged "hummingbirds"

A Hover of Hummingbirds

Posted by on Jul 29, 2017 in flowers, summer, Unmowed Blog | 2 comments

A Hover of Hummingbirds

Want to see hummingbirds? Think red. Think bee balm.

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Bee Balm: Hummingbird Heaven

Posted by on Aug 9, 2015 in birds, flowers, summer, Unmowed Blog, wildlife | 2 comments

Bee Balm: Hummingbird Heaven

Hummingbirds are attracted to the color red. And bee balm is red. Red, red. Fire engine red. Bee balm is a member of the mint family, as can be seen by its squared-off stems and paired leaves; like most mints, it’s hardy, and spreads readily–pretty easy to grow. My kind of plant. It’s a native wildflower–at least it was originally a wildflower, though I’ve never seen it growing in the wild–what I’ve got in my garden is a nursery-bred variety of the original wild plant. And it’s red. Blood red. Hummingbirds, which have keen color vision, are...

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Guest Photographer Diane Hale Smith; A Study in Scarlet

Posted by on Aug 3, 2013 in birds, environment, flowers, photos, summer, Unmowed Blog, wildlife | 1 comment

Guest Photographer Diane Hale Smith; A Study in Scarlet

Red. Blood red. Fire engine red. Crimson. That’s what hummingbirds like. These magnificent little birds are drawn to the color red like iron is drawn to a magnet, cats to catnip, humans to chocolate.   Where I used to work, there was a bright red fire extinguisher bolted next to one of the doors, and sometimes when we left the door propped open, a hummingbird would fly in and spend quite a lot of time trying to suck nectar from the tube-shaped nozzle. I once made the mistake of wearing a red t-shirt on a hike—this was in Arizona—and I was constantly buzzed by hummers, going ZZZZZZZZZZZZ...

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