By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@www.timesleader.com

Website reports they’re making their way north

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<p>A ruby-throated hummingbird appears ready to feast on the pink flowers growing on photographer Chris Sarcevic Verdgeline’s trellis.</p> <p>Chris Sarcevic Verdgeline</p>

A ruby-throated hummingbird appears ready to feast on the pink flowers growing on photographer Chris Sarcevic Verdgeline’s trellis.

Chris Sarcevic Verdgeline
<p>Photographer Chris Sarcevic Verdgeline of Forty Fort captured this image of a hummingbird as it inserted its long beak into an orange day lily. According to the Penn State Extension, hummingbirds have a preference for orange, red and pink flowers.</p> <p>Chris Sarcevic Verdgeline</p>

Photographer Chris Sarcevic Verdgeline of Forty Fort captured this image of a hummingbird as it inserted its long beak into an orange day lily. According to the Penn State Extension, hummingbirds have a preference for orange, red and pink flowers.

Chris Sarcevic Verdgeline
<p>If you want to put a hummingbird feeder in your yard, the recipe for their food is 4 parts water to 1 part pure cane sugar.</p> <p>Chris Sarcevic Verdgeline</p>

If you want to put a hummingbird feeder in your yard, the recipe for their food is 4 parts water to 1 part pure cane sugar.

Chris Sarcevic Verdgeline

You might say a hawk is majestic, a cardinal is beautiful, and a wood thrush has a beautiful song.

But for sheer cuteness, some bird lovers will argue, you can’t beat the tiny hummingbird.

It can fly backwards, even upside down, and its little wings beat so fast they hum. Hence the name.

Over the past few days, local fans of this energetic bird have kept their eagle eyes peeled for a first sighting.

“Friends of mine have their hummingbird feeders out already so I just put mine out,” Chris Sarcevic Verdgeline of Forty Fort said last week, noting that in 2020 her first sighting of a hummingbird was May 4.

Another reader said she spotted one on May 1, 2020 in her Nanticoke backyard.

So this year’s first local sightings could happen any day.

Verdgeline enjoys consulting a website called Journey North, on which fellow birdwatchers report sightings. According to reports on the website, the hummingbirds, which are the smallest migratory birds in this country, have been making their way closer to Pennsylania.

Among the recent reports, Gary in King George, Va., saw a ruby-throated male on April 12.

Pamela in Taylorsville, Ky., eagerly reported: “First hummer of the year!!” on April 13.

And Kristen in Holts Summit, Mo. said she was “so happy” to see one drinking out of her feeder on April 12.

If you are interested in feeding hummingbirds (and attracting them to your yard) you might want to plant some nectar-rich flowers such as honeysuckle, columbine or daylilies. Or help the birds keep their energy up by putting out a feeder filled with sugar water.

Hummingbird food is simple, Verdgeline wrote in an email. “4 parts clean water to 1 part pure cane sugar. That’s regular sugar. Completely dissolved. (No dyes! Nothing added. It could kill them.)”

Verdgeline, who laughingly refers to her hummingbird watch as “stalking my backyard,” especially enjoys shooting nature photographs. Last year, she captured a few hummingbird images that way.