Forget about the commercial mixes and the red dye. Flower gardens offer sources of nectar and attract insects, the latter needed for the protein in hummer diets. If possible, place several feeders in different spots. If some of the feeders must be in sun, see that others are in shade. Provide them with water, especially misting sprays - particularly in dry areas.
Hummers love to bathe.
There's a trouble-maker around Bob and Kathi Mitchell's house in Ridgefield. Pheasants, quail and other sizable fowl would fly into picture windows, often with disastrous results. While this can still happen when these large, low-flying birds mistake a picture window for open territory, it's apparently not as common as it used to be. Through a transcription error, we mistakenly reported two weeks ago that Pat and John Canning's phoebes had raised four cowbirds, instead of phoebe chicks, after a cowbird egg had been removed from the nest. They join the catbird fledglings there who are also being fed by their parents.