visiting Anna's, now showing more and more rose-red on the
throat. I know some lucky people have them year-round! Murray

Murray, we are some of the lucky ones. My husband and I live in Newcastle
(south of Bellevue) on a hill of about 700, 800 feet. I can remember seeing
winter Anna's feeding during a holiday party at a house in Shoreline about 15
years ago. I was mesmerized, and wanted some of my own. The hosts said they
doubted that we would ever have them during the winter given our altitude. They
said that most folks who manage to have winter visitors live close to the
sound and at low altitude.

For years we fed Anna's and Roufus from mid-March to mid-September, and
around 5 years ago, the Anna's started to stay put. I remember that about a week
after I'd taken down the feeders and put them away, an Anna's came to the
kitchen window and hovered in front of it. I tore out to the garage to rummage
for the packed feeders, and had one filled and hanging within about 5 minutes.
They've been with us every since.

We have 3 feeders, and now we keep them going all year. We usually have 3
hummers that stay around. During intensely cold weather, I sometimes bring the
feeders in at night so that they don't freeze. I've also started to plant
winter-blooming plants. We just put in a Witch Hazel last week in the hopes that
they'll enjoy it.

So you never know! If you're lucky, you could have your own winter keepers!

Pat
Newcastle, WA