Hummingbirds in the Atlanta wild

So a couple weeks ago I showed my bird feeders and some of the birds I had been attracting. I also mentioned that I put a hummingbird feeder up and we had seen it a couple times. Well now we think it is at least two or three birds, and they are constant visitors to the porch. These guys are small and each one has a different way of eating at the feeder. Some fly right in take a drink of some nectar but others will get close then go all the way around it drinking from each fake flower a couple time then fly away.

With all the action this feeder is getting I had lots of chances to get pictures and I took a bunch. I'm putting some of the better pictures on here to show my new birds. Sarah wants to put up another feeder for the hummingbirds and I am thinking of getting one that sticks to the window with a suction cup. That should get us closer to the action and maybe give us a new angle for pictures.

The birds we are attracting are ruby throated hummingbirds. They like to drink the nectar from brightly colored flowers in the wild. Our feeder has a nectar that we make right here in the kitchen. The stuff you buy in the store could get expensive but to make it at home is easy and much more cheap.

To make our own hummingbird nectar you need a two ingredients water and sugar. You should wash your feeder out a couple times a week to keep bacteria from building up and harming the birds. So wash out our feeder and while it is drying you can make the nectar. It is a 4:1 ratio water to sugar, so I like to make 2 cups of nectar. I heat up 2 cups of water and then add a half a cup of sugar. Heating the water helps dissolve the sugar faster and once the water goes clear again just cool it down and pour it into your feeder.

These bird feeders have been so much fun for me this summer so far and I am looking forward to the fall and winter months when the birds are very active to these feeders. Also the fall and winter brings different kinds of birds, and as the birds come to the porch I will shot some photos for later blog posts. I am very much a novice at all this bird feeder stuff, but I am learning and will try to blog about anything new I do on the porch so keep checking in.

-Bruce

Block

Maybe it is a bad sign but I think I have a little writers block, and I have not been doing a lot of fishing. I went out chasing carp this past Saturday, I saw a lot of what I have been reading about. I saw some tailing action, some fish kind of cruising, and some fish just resting on the bottom. I spent some money to rent a canoe and paddle to a shallow spot where the water was warm. Then spend most of the morning and afternoon tossing "carp flies" to the tailing fish. They would spook and swim off leaving a wake behind for me to shake my head at and laugh. I got good at sneaking up on them and they would spook right next to the boat. It was an exciting morning, and then the fish went to sleep. Just sitting on the bottom hiding till I hit them with the bottom of the boat or the paddle.

That was it, no fish to hand, no big fight story, and no running my line all the way to the backing. I was not upset at all it was fun to be on the water and chasing a fish I have never caught before. There is something exciting about fishing for a new species, I really have not caught a lot of different species on the fly rod, but starting now I am going to try. Hopefully next time I can post a picture of a big carp.

This was the area I fished.

I have been fishing more this year then I had in the past two or three years and will be taking it back a little now that Sarah is not on call every weekend. That being said the creation of this blog has given me some reason to get on the water, and will hopefully get me on the water for years to come. Would you look at that I was not completely blocked I just had a story where I did not catch a fish, or even have any real excitement on the trip. The plans was to blog on Sunday's and Wednesday's and I am sorry I have been bad about it this past week but I am getting back on track starting now. I did put in a wish list update and last week I updated my gear page as well. Thanks for reading everyone.

-Bruce

Why do we do it

Last night I had a rare chance to hit the river after work. It was one of those things where the stars alined and I got off a little early. The plan was to go try to catch carp, but that was easier said then done. The spot I had picked out was really hard to get to. I spend most of the time in a wooded area trying to locate the fish. I saw a couple and got a cast or two in their direction but it was just practice. Hopefully I'll be renting a canoe Saturday and then I will have my best shot at landing my first carp. Well the night was not a total bust.

Searching my mind for ideas I decided to drive to a spot just 5 minutes up the road. It is a spot I normally fish for trout but there are some large flat areas and I thought they might hold carp. Well I fished there for about an hour until I had enough. The funny thing about this spot was at one point I saw over a dozen people fly fishing. I dozen people on the stream on a Thursday night. I knew why I was there, it was because I went on an adventure looking for my shot at my first carp. On this night I could not help but wonder why do these other people fish? Why did these guy pick fly fishing?

Stuck on that question I sat on a rock for a while. The water was too cold for carp here so I thought about these other guys, and their fishing lives. Then I decided to go to some swifter moving water and see if I had it in me to catch a trout on my new rod. I looked at my fly box for a fly. Now the fact that I went out for carp was a problem when trying to fish for trout. My box had what I thought would be good stuff for carp not trout.

I plucked a fly from my hat and after fifteen or twenty minutes with no fish. After opening the box again, I studied the flies I had with me for a couple minutes and decided to go with a leech pattern. First cast with the leech I had a stunning brown trout attack the fly with everything it had. Not the biggest fish but still the first that this new rod had ever taken to hand. No more then two minutes later another fish to hand, I did not get a shot of this guy because my camera was tucked away in my bag.

This is the first trout the picture was taken with my phone. I second I wanted a better picture but it threw the hook before I could get the camera out.

I was pleased with myself, switching gears like that is hard for me, but I was happy I did it because I got a chance to hold two pretty fish. Why do we do it? I think everyone come to the river with their own twist. There is something to be said about the guy who comes just to catch the big one, but in the same respect the guy who sits on a rock for a while to collect himself might be on to something too. I do not what to get into why I fish in this post, but I am amazed that there are that many people willing to fish on a Thursday night. I guess last nights fishing trip was good because I landed a couple trout, but also because I landed the question why do we do it?

-Bruce