Coastal Journal: Hum a spring tune while mixing nectar recipe

After a grueling migration from Central America, the first hungry, tired hummingbirds are arriving in Hampton Roads, so it's high time to put your feeders out.

Debbie Melton, who lives in Pungo, was the first to report one of the birds to me this spring. Since they are coming from the south, the feisty little hummers often arrive in Knotts Island and Pungo first.

"I'm happy to report my first sighting," Melton wrote. "A beautiful male landed on my hummingbird feeder this morning."

That was about a week ago. Then I heard from Peggy Jackson, who has not one but two hummers in Linlier. Not only did a male ruby-throat with its brilliant red throat appear in her yard, but it also met up with the brown rufous hummingbird that has been visiting Jackson since January.

Far out of its West Coast range, this hummer, also a male with a bright red throat, has not left for its nesting area that extends as far north as Alaska.

The folks at Wild Birds Unlimited have had reports of hummers in Chesapeake and the Red Mill area here. The store's latest e-mail newsletter featured an interesting list of "Hummingbird Fun Facts." For example, the hummer's nest is no bigger than a golf ball and its eggs, about the size of blueberries.

Visit Wild Birds Unlimited's Web site at www.wbu.com/virginiabeach and click on Bird of the Month on the left hand side to learn more. You also can click on "Get Email News" to receive the newsletter.

Another Web site, featuring a hummingbird migration map, www.hummingbirds.net/map.html, shows that a few ruby-throats even reached Virginia in March.

A couple of years ago, I changed my thinking and put out my feeders April 1 instead of April 15. Now I am wondering if they should go out even earlier. (Of course, if you want to try and pick up a winter hummer or two, you can leave them out all year.)

In case you have forgotten, the nectar recipe is one part sugar to four parts water. I usually mix the sugar in very hot water, stirring to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Red food coloring is not necessary.

Store the mixture in the refrigerator. You don't have to change the water as often this time of year, but when the weather gets hot, change it every two to three days.

It is said that hummingbirds follow the blooms of the wild columbine north, sipping columbine nectar as they travel, but my columbine isn't blooming yet! So, a feeder full of sugar water is a welcome sight for these weary travelers from Central America. They are voracious feeders.

Another Wild Birds Unlimited fun fact said that hummingbirds drink up to twice their body weight in nectar every day, while other birds eat only a quarter to half their body weight every day.

If you receive your birds with open arms and then they disappear, not to worry. If they stay only a short time, they are probably migrating through, just staying long enough to rest and refuel.

Or if the birds seem to settle into nest nearby, they also will be scarce until the babies are fledged. That's because the young eat only a protein-rich diet of insects and insect eggs.

Whatever your visitors are - regulars or passersby - the first sight of them is a sure sign the spring has come.