A second hummingbird

last year's view in late March

This morning, a second hummingbird of the season! 

I think it was a female, but the light wasn't good enough to tell.  S/he was visiting the Carolina Jessamine flowers outside my study window.  So nice to see.

This year's view is quite similar to last year's!

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First hummingbird 2013

I knew there had been lots of sightings nearby before now, according to the reports and map at Journey North, but I was delighted to see my first hummingbird (a male) of the season this evening.  He was visiting the porch feeder (the whir of wings was a welcome sign of his arrival). It was only the second dinner out on the porch (the unseasonably cool March weather precluded any earlier porch meals!)

I had put out fresh sugar water in mid-March (hoping for an earlier sighting -- one of the fun things about having blog post "records" is that I can look back and see when I've first seen a hummingbird in previous years -- it's fun to look back.

hummingbird visiting Campsis (at Biltmore)

This is a photo I took at Biltmore Estate (in Asheville, NC) in late August, 2009 (and my post about watching them). 

There is an enormous Campsis radicans (Trumpet-creeper) growing on the arbor on the side of the house towards the gardens.  Needless to say, the hummingbirds visiting the flowers are used to being around visitors! 

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Carolina jessamine

Carolina jessamine

Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is a great native vine in the southeastern U.S.   But what I hadn't realized is how well it responds to pruning, with denser flowering shoots (so more prolific flowering).  A recent stay at a B&B in Chattanooga found me admiring Carolina Jessamine (pruned) in all sort of guises.  This was just one of them.

Definitely something to practice on the Carolina jessamine on our porch railing.

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