Although my first ruby throat was a bit late in arriving this year, a nice male did appear during the first week of August. Things remained slow, but have picked up over the last ten days. It seems that I have more hummers than ever before even though I DID NOT have the energy to put flowers on my deck this year to attract them. Many of the birds are exhibiting a cute behavior which I have never seen before in this species, probably because I have not provided them with the tool of opportunity. I have several wire clothes hangers hanging from my gutters and on which I hang hand washed garments which are too fragile for the dryer. Colored plastic clothespins are permanently pinned on the hangers which give them some weight when not in use. Recently, I have noticed that many of the hummingbirds perch on those wire hangers and "swing in the breeze" in the manner that caged birds supposedly do. The hummers will perch for a while and "swing", then fly the ten feet over to the feeder and then back for another "swing." They are such fun to watch as the "swing" is located just outside the French doors from my dining room to the deck, so I am able to watch them during lunch and dinner. At breakfast, I sit at the kitchen table and watch through the kitchen window as they feed My little jewels seems to be filling up, playing on the "swing" and moving on down the line. I just wish they could be with us all year round; Dee Thompson Nashville, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================