Kidding aside, today is already an altert day here in the DC region, please remember to keep yourselves hydrated and check on your senior neighbors and parents.  Rich is planning "lite" days all week.  AND remember, when it finally does rain, the roads are going to be nice and oily from the lack of rain. 

Be careful out there, please?

I'm having to get up in the mornings to get my running in before the heat (and bad air) builds too much...and I am NOT a morning person...makes for one cranky Patti!

My hydrangea never made it into the ground.  I got a plant from a friend and it was fine for a while but then just lost its flowers.  I think it is now dead though I kept watering it in hopes.  Are they hard to keep alive?

I realize that I do not have a green thumb, by the way

I have found them extremely easy to keep alive...they tend to get a little droopy in full sun (especially in the 95-degree, dry weather that we've been having), but they perk back up as soon as the sun gets a little lower, and ours are very drought-resistant.  Ours got badly frostbitten in a late (easter) hard freeze a few years back, and after we trimmed off the dead parts, it came back beautifully.  Lost that season's blooms, though.  We've never had insect or fungus problems despite being in a humid climate; even last year when it was cool and rainy all summer.  We are a completely organic yard, so I don't use any chemical fertilizer or insecticides on anything (gotta keep that bug population healthy for the hummingbirds :-).  I just throw some compost on from time to time, use a mulch that will decompose into soil (bark rather than cypress), and let the leaves stay on the ground to decompose (we don't have any lawn at all; just gardens, so it's easy to let whatever falls stay there to build nice rich soil).  However, our house is over 100 years old, so it came with rich soil when we bought it; none of the hard clay you get with a new house (at least in Kentucky when you remove the topsoil you get clay).

A new hydrangea will like regular water until it gets established, which may be your problem.  I have heard people say that they can turn completely brown from not having water, and then eventually put out new growth once you start watering regularly, so don't give up yet.

...  And, well, the rest is history...  How about you, Patti?

Anne C. (Toronto, ON Canada)

Not much in the way of protests and marches...though I'm not a spring chicken, I graduated from high school in 1979, so I missed most of the heady days of organized protests.  About the closest I came was when our school district embarked on court-ordered busing to desegregate the schools and many of my neighbors protested by boycotting school and keeping their kids off the buses.  My parents, having the opposite political leanings (I come from a line of bleeding hearts, and the apple did not fall far from the tree), they made sure we were on the school buses in those early days...had rocks and smoke bombs thrown at us...luckily that was as bad as it got, and things settled down after a few days.

I just don't hear about many opportunities to do such things locally.  So I write letters to my congressmen and send money.  For volunteer efforts I've mostly restricted myself to local environmental efforts that have immediate impact, like participating in the local invasive-species removal at the park where we run, or the organized river cleanup...haven't done much of anything for the last 3 years while dealing with my mother's final battle with Parkinson's disease.  Time to change that...

I'm so sorry that you didn't get to share the event with Kevin, but glad you went anyway!

Patti

...having a peaceful protest march is as futile now, as it was in the 60s – no one listened then and they won’t now.
 
Anne C. (Toronto, ON Canada) *sigh*

Anne, did you march (or sit-in) during the 60's or 70's?  Kudos for your passion then and now, in spite of your feeling of futility!

Patti

Stunning bird!  Thanks for sharing...

The videos are ready at last!

Thanks so much for capturing and posting these...I'm not finding much time to watch the stream, so it's nice to see something so exciting!

I notice that you used clear nectar rather than red; I ought to have done the same because the ladies at the ball I wore the helmet to made catty remarks about how red clashed with my ball gown.

It sounds like you need to find a new gown for your next ball that will coordinate with the helmet...something with glittery flowers, perhaps.

I do use clear nectar...having been to several hummingbird festivals and heard lectures by the hummingbird police (I mean experts), they always recommend not using the red-colored nectar.  Though there is no scientific evidence that it's bad for them, there is also no evidence that it is harmless.  So the thinking is that if the feeder is colored, the red nectar coloring is unnecessary, and better not to take the risk.  So I just use straight sugar water...no need to risk the ire of the hummingbird police.  I've got a pretty easy, but lazy system.  I have two feeders that are dishwasher safe and very easy to clean.  So I mix up about 32 ounces of nectar at a time, keep it in the refrigerator, and since the temps have been in the mid to high 90's, I change nectar every day.  The old feeder comes in, goes in the dishwasher, and a new feeder goes out with fresh nectar.  The refrigerated solution lasts about a week.

I'm going on a vacation at the end of July, which ought to be the start of the peak of hummingbird migration around here...so I'm hoping my cat sitter will keep the hummers well fed while I'm gone!

[hummingbird helmet]

Being a generous person, Dale concocted the idea to share the Marvel of Engineering that is Lou's hummingbird helmet, giving others the opportunity to look like an idiot.  I was first on the list!  Dale sent the BFHH through the USPS, and one of two packages was unaccountably delayed; Dale suspected Homeland Security involvement, probably investigating the powdered substance (nectar mix).  I eventually received the boxes and eagerly assembled the Moronic Avian-Related Headgear, with able assistance from Jeane as chief documentarian and wise-cracker.

Note to Lou:  Part #BFHH2010 was a bit large for my head; I could have benefited from bigger sunglasses!

A resident female hummingbird has frequented our feeder and flowers all spring and summer, so I had high hopes that she would investigate this new source of nectar, but alas, she just flew past me to drink from her usual spot.  Being less clever than a hummingbird, it didn't occur to me to take the "normal" feeder down.

Unlike Dale, I didn't venture far into the world; I knew the backyard would reliably supply at least one RT Hummingbird.

It was a fun way to spend a blazing hot summer afternoon and I'll look forward to tracking the Hummingbird Helmet's progress across the country.  Thanks go to Dale and Lou for the opportunity to model this chic summer accessory.  Sample photos are below, but if you want to see the whole story, I've also created an album:
http://bellhanley.smugmug.com/House-Backyard/Hummingbird-Helmet-Adventure

Patti

I love it!!  I always have hummingbirds, but can never locate the nest!  Yet, my sister, who loves near LA and does not "feed" the hummers, had a nesting pair this spring in her backyard!  At least she took pics for me

Suzanne, I'm in the same frustrating boat...I've had a female hummer visiting the feeder every day since Derby Day (how we measure time in Louisville), but I have no idea if/where there is a nest.

Patti

Great videos!  What a dream job...flying an ultralight on a frosty morning with some magnificent cranes behind you...

I hate this part of loving these birds  Thankfully it's been a relatively anonymous dinner season until now.

I agree...I much prefer when the prey is nicely cleaned and unrecognizable even though there's a bigger Yucch factor.  The fully feathered Mourning Dove the other day bothered me, too.

Patti

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/06/11/mizejewski.why.save.birds/

Yeah, the reporter called me last week for info on breeding and nesting.  Been away all weekend at birding conference so haven't looked at the article.  Guess I better go do that.

Now I'm curious Helen, is birding something you do professionally, or a passionate hobby?

Patti

Looking over the banding chart, I notice that Freedom was named by a first grade class.  Those children would be middle-schoolers now.  Is there any way to let their teacher (a Nancy Reid) or the school know that Freedom's son Archer is now back in Rochester?  Perhaps send the school a copy of Jim's terrific photo from today?
Kapi in VT

Kapi (and anyone else who is interested)...as I said above, I found Nancy Reid and let her know that Freedom (whom her class named) is a grandfather.  Here is her response:

Hi Patti,
What a nice surprise this morning to hear from you and to hear Freedom is a grandfather! Just checked out the site and all the news of banding day! I did not know anything about the change of buildings, etc. Wish I had known!

I retired from teaching first grade last year! Have so many great memories of the original birdcam, the wonderful people, and of course, the falcons!  Have a gorgeous framed picture of Mariah and Kaver hanging in my home. Kodak gave me a great VHS (need to transfer it to DVD) of the beginning of the Kodak birdcam which I showed to every new first grader coming to me! Those
were wonderful days of following the antics of Mariah and Kaver. Glad to get all the updates. I really appreciate your email. I will continue the saga now of following the falcons of Rochester! Someday I would like to visit and see for myself! Just saw my first graders  "fledge" from H.S. at their graduation! Wonderful!
Thanks again,
Nancy

Didn't her class name another one of MK's kids? I know they followed for a long time on Yahoo. Hmm, seems like yesterday she was on.

I didn't think it had been that long either, but when I checked the Yahoo board it looked like her last post was from 2004!