The yard boss made an appearance in the Upland Almanac’s Autumn issue, promoting the Spring issue of their magazine Upland Birding. We’ll try to answer the question of “Do hummingbirds prefer nectar from feeders or from flowers?” and go inside the numbers. More to come!
The monthly totals for sightings and flowers visited for the month of May exceeded the past three seasons of May’s combined!
The reason for the increase was perhaps due to the four fully bloomed salvia in hanging baskets. This led to more sightings, an increase in the amount of plants visited and longer times feeding at the patio.
Two male hummingbirds have taken up residence along with at least a couple females. The males continue to appear at 30-60 minutes after sun up and sun down in terrible lighting.
This year, the first sighting was on May 7 and been a busy first week for 2023 despite the limited number of nectar offerings on the patio.
The resident male has been seen performing his aerial acrobatic mating dance for a female – perhaps more on the way.
| ARRIVAL DATE |
|---|
| 05/14/20 |
| 05/02/21 |
| 05/05/22 |
| 05/07/23 |
A regular visitor to the patio made an appearance in the Spring issue of National Wildlife Magazine.
Their Garden for Wildlife™ Photo Contest attracted more than 8,000 entries across five categories and our feathered friend seen here is the winner of the close up category.
Thank you to the National Wildlife Federation, and their continuing amazing work to protect and enhance our wildlife populations and their abilities to thrive in our ever changing world, I am grateful to be the recipient. If you are interested in learning how to create your own certified garden, visit https://www.nwf.org/garden.
If you are wondering, do hummingbirds prefer sugar water or nectar from flowers, the question is answered, at least on this patio, after three seasons and thousands of visits.
I am excited to share that Patio Life won two awards in the 2021 Summit International Creative Awards – GOLD for Industry Self-Promotion Collateral and SILVER in Photography!
The Summit International Awards recognizes and celebrates the creative achievements of small and medium sized advertising agencies worldwide with annual billings under $30 million.
This year’s competition received over 3800 entries from 20 countries including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kuwait, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States of America.
This year’s panel of judges included professionals representing the following countries: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Russian Federation, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Entries in 18 major categories are judged against a stringent set of standards. During its blind judging (entering company names withheld) the Board of Judges search for and identify innovative and creative concepts, strong executions and user experience, and the ability to communicate and persuade.
“Winning a Summit Creative Award is a significant accomplishment in ones career. With vetted judges, tough judging criteria, two-phase blind judging processes, and strict bylaws limiting winners, only deserving entries receive recognition.” Said Jocelyn Luciano, Managing Director for the Summit International Awards. “The creative work this year was outstanding. Watching the judges debate the details of individual entries in the run-off for the tops spots was inspiring.”
The Summit Awards organization was founded in 1994. Annually, it conducts the Summit Creative Award, the Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award and the Summit Emerging Media Award. Additional information about the Summit International Awards organization, its competitions and winning firms can be found on the SIA web site at www.summitawards.com.
Looking for a book on bugs?
The 8 x 8 inch, 124-page book is printed on Mohawk Superfine ultrawhite eggshell archival, acid-free paper and comes in a custom designed 8.5 x 8.5 inch box.
If you plant it – they will come!
THE PHOTOVILLE FENCE
Five selected pieces from Patio Life were choose for inclusion in the 9th edition of the Photoville Fence.
The Photoville FENCE is a year-round public photography project exhibited in major parks and downtowns across 11 installation sites in North America. Featuring over 90 photographers annually, the exhibition brings compelling visual stories into the public realm, and to a wide and diverse audience.
The exhibition will be up from June 12 – Labor day, 2021.
For more information on the installation location map, click here!
Looking for a book on bugs?
The 8 x 8 inch, 124-page book is printed on Mohawk Superfine ultrawhite eggshell archival, acid-free paper and comes in a custom designed 8.5 x 8.5 inch box.
If you plant it – they will come!
TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animal
Phylum: Arthropods
Class: Insect
Order: Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera)
Family: Butterflies (Nymphadlidae)
THE PHOTOVILLE FENCE
Five selected pieces from Patio Life were choose for inclusion in the 9th edition of the Photoville Fence.
The Photoville FENCE is a year-round public photography project exhibited in major parks and downtowns across 11 installation sites in North America. Featuring over 90 photographers annually, the exhibition brings compelling visual stories into the public realm, and to a wide and diverse audience.
The exhibition will be up from June 12 – Labor day, 2021.
For more information on the installation location map, click here!
Looking for a book on bugs?
The 8 x 8 inch, 124-page book is printed on Mohawk Superfine ultrawhite eggshell archival, acid-free paper and comes in a custom designed 8.5 x 8.5 inch box.
If you plant it – they will come!
Today was the first, and earliest sighting of the ruby-throated hummingbird as one visited the nectar feeder for a sip as the salvia plants have yet to bloom.
Which brings up a question, do our visiting hummingbirds prefer flowers or nectar feeders? Lets look inside the numbers from 2020!
2020 Observations: 1382 Sightings visiting 3530 flowers
First Visit: 05/15/20
Last Visit: 09/21/20
Most Daily Sightings: 46
Longest Visit: 24 minutes
Longest Lording from Swing: 22 minutes
Beak Bump: 1x
Hand fed: Several times
Most Visited Plant: 527 visits at Salvia Plant 5
| Salvia Plants (8) | Nector Feeders (3) | Other Plants |
|---|---|---|
| 75.86% (2678 Visits) | 14.62% (516 Visits) | 9.52% (336 Visits) |
Clearly, the hummingbirds preferred the salvia plants 75% of the time as their primary source of energy!
TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animal
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Birds (Aves)
Order: Hummingbirds, Swifts (Apodiformes)
Family: Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
The grasshopper has mandibulate mouthparts used for biting and chewing plant leaves that consist of the labrum (upper lip), mandibles (jaws), pair of maxillae, hypopharynx and labium (lower lip). The mandible operates side to side that can cut or crush the leaves of a plant while feeding.
Looking for a book on bugs?
The 8 x 8 inch, 124-page book is printed on Mohawk Superfine ultrawhite eggshell archival, acid-free paper and comes in a custom designed 8.5 x 8.5 inch box.
If you plant it – they will come!
TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animal
Phylum: Arthropods
Class: Insect
Order: Grasshoppers (Orthoptera)
Paito Life has been awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2020 edition of the International Photography Awards (IPA’s) in the “Professional: Nature Book” category. An international jury of photography experts judged a total of 13,000 entries from 120 countries to select the category winners, each of whom are in the running to receive the IPA’s top two prizes—Photographer of the Year for the professional categories.
Looking for a book on bugs?
The 8 x 8 inch, 124-page book is printed on Mohawk Superfine ultrawhite eggshell archival, acid-free paper and comes in a custom designed 8.5 x 8.5 inch box.
If you plant it – they will come!
