WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Swarming hummingbirds

August 26, 2011

As summer draws to an end, migrating birds begin to think about heading south. But before the hummingbirds do, many of them make a stop in Hinesburg for the best pre-marathon feast in the area.

Brenda Wilson has many friends in the summer time.

"I put the feeders out very early in the year, starting as soon as it stops freezing in April, and I keep them up until November because we have stragglers... but pretty much they will all leave come the second week of September. It's very short that they are here."

Brenda estimates that around 50 ruby-throated hummingbirds swarm her feeders in August, tanking up for the long trip south.

"You know you've got a good batch when they come and they put their beak in there and they just... they don't even come up for air!"

She makes the nectar with 4 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar, boiling it to make sure it's pasteurized before she puts it out for her little friends.

"I feel very protective to make sure the feeders are clean, the nectar never goes bad."

And that means 16 cups of nectar every day, sometimes twice a day in August. But it's a job Brenda loves.

"And sometimes I will do something special for them, if it's really cold, and I've got a lot of birds out, I'll put warm nectar outside. Something that's like 80 degrees. Not hot, because I don't want to hurt their tongues their almost transparent. "

"You're going to be sad when their gone."

"I know, I love to hear their little twitters and tweets...."

"They are comforting to me, just to hear their sounds. Each bird has a slightly different sound, believe it or not, and they're like little friends who come back every year."

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