Here below is the email about the situation depicted in the above pix posted by Scott Shalaway on PABIRDS, WVBIRDS, and HUMNET. --------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Hand feeding hummers From: Scott Shalaway Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2007 11:04:53 EDT I've noticed a number of posts asking about early Ruby-throated Hummingbird numbers and I've gotten lots of similar letters from reader of my newspaper column. My answer parallels hummer guru Bob Sargent's -- I usually see only a few hummers in May and June, and then the big post-nesting pulse comes in late July and August. This year has been pleasantly different. I've been seeing as many as 10 birds at the feeders since late May. Now the point of this post. Yesterday morning one of my feeders was bone dry, so I rinsed it and refilled it. As I approached the hanger, two hummers approached. They began drinking before I even hung the feeder on the hook. After hanging the feeder, I just stood with my face about six inches from the feeder. In less than 60 seconds, birds began coming in, buzzing, dipping, darting, feeding, fighting -- all with inches of my face. Their beating wings cooled my face. At times four birds fed at once at all four ports. Sometimes birds hovered so close to my eyes I could not focus on them. With all the activity it was difficult to count the birds, but there were at least 12 individuals. After a few minutes, I placed my hands on both sides of the feeder, right at perch level. The birds ignored me. As they hovered to feed, I slowly lifted my fingers under their dangling legs. When we touched, the birds grabbed my finger tips and sipped while perched. This continued for about ten minutes until I could no longer hold my arms up. This was one of the most amazing nature encounter I've ever experienced. I just couldn't believe my eyes. It reminded me of those photos of the lady hand feeding hummers in La. that have been circulating on the internet for the last 18 months or so. [SEE: http://www.pbase.com/sam_and_abigail/hummingbirds -RMP] When my wife and daughter came home yesterday, I recounted the story and had them try it. Same results! This time I got photos of the birds with Linda and Emma's faces in the background. They too continued until their arms tired. This morning the feeder was again dry and when I refilled it, the birds came right back and I had them on my hands again. I just had to tell someone right away. Hope you enjoyed the telling, and I encourage everyone to give it a try. I've done nothing to train or try to tame these birds. They just seemed to enjoy putting on a show. Scott Shalaway, Ph.D. Naturalist/Nature Writer R.D. 5, Box 76 Cameron, WV 26033 304-686-2630 sshalaway AT aol.com Catch my radio shows: Saturday mornings from 9 to 11 on 1370 WVLY, Wheeling (www.wvly.net) Saturday afternoons from 3 to 5 PM on 1360 WPTT-AM, Pittsburgh http://www.1360wptt.com/shalaway - click the "Listen Live" icon in the corner or live online, from anywhere, at http://www.talkshoe.com/ Just register (it's free), and look for Birds & Nature in the "Science" section. You can even download past shows. Read my weekly nature column in many newspapers, including these (just search my name): Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (http://post-gazette.com/sports/outdoors) Charleston (WV) Gazette (http://www.wvgazette.com) Wheeling (WV) News-Register (http://www.news-register.net)