The Saga of the Hummingbird Feeders

I made a big mistake when I flew out of Texas to Mexico and didn't pack a couple of hummingbird feeders with me.  I should have remembered the hard time I had in Costa Rica finding a feeder at the store and even there had to take a bus to a neighboring town to finally find one.

Well...  I guess I didn't learn my lesson.  We got here on December 14, got settled into our apartment, and we had a great place to hang a hummingbird feeder.  Besides that, we'd seen a Cinnamon Hummingbird nearby so knew the little guys were around.

I hit up all the local tiendas...  nope...  they didn't have any idea what I wanted.  We took the collectivo to La Penita...  bigger town..  more stores.  None there either.  None at the big-box stores, Mega or Walmart in Nuevo Vallarta.

Memo suggested I go to the art gallery where the (American) owner had displays of glass objects.  This shop is only open on weekends...  no problem...  we went...  they had several and we bought one...

It's a pretty one...  even has a red stained-glass flower wired onto the recycled bottle.  I had found a bottle of "hummingbird nectar" at the Mega store (sugar water colored bright red)...  and I even bought a small bag of sugar from Letty's grocery to make my own.  Out went the feeder....  

Day one..  no birds...

Day two...  no birds...

Day three...  no birds but the the constant drip from that nozzle attracted bees

Day four...  feeder is empty...  dozens of honey bees hovering around our deck.

We went through this a couple of times...  the feeder dripped like a leaky faucet that needed a new washer.  The bees loved it.....  they'd empty the darned thing out in a matter of hours.

Down came the feeder....

We took the bus into Puerto Vallarta to Home Depot...  Bill had gone on-line and found that we could buy one there.  So...  we bought one....

Come'on now folks...  who's ever heard of a black hummingbird feeder?  Even with those tiny red plastic flowers it has nothing to attract a hummingbird.  I used the last of my red-colored nectar.  

I have no idea what was wrong with this feeder, but it, too dripped.  And...  there is no bee-guard...  so the bees quickly found it.  Well, I hadn't had any hummers yet, so at least someone got to lap up that sugar water before it fermented.

Somewhere along now we found that our friends in Arizona were going to come here for a few weeks.  I e-mailed...  practically begging for a real honest-to-goodness hummingbird feeder.

(By now we's seen the Cinnamon a few times and the Broad-billed a time or two.  Surely we could attract them here)....

A couple of weeks ago our friends arrived...  and...  yes!  they brought me a hummingbird feeder...

Boiled up a fresh batch of sugar water...  Bill put my red clothes pins on the holder to attract their attention...  and...  hey, we even "borrowed" a spray of red bougainvillea as incentive to visit the feeder.  

Do you think we have any takers?  Heck no!  

It's still hanging out there...  there's always hope.  But I am accumulating a few hummingbird feeders in our apartment that really have no use.

At least once a week I change the sugar-water solution...  just in case....  afterall, I wouldn't want to harm any of my tiny feathered friends, and it can get pretty hot here in the afternoons....  don't want any inebriated little hummers zig-zagging around our complex here.

We do still see the occasional hummer when we're out on our daily walk...  but... truth is...  I'm about to give up on attracting them here at our place.  Little buggers don't know a free meal when they see one!

That's All For Today!