Its almost time for hummingbirds

Soon, the real ones will be coming back to North America. We usually don't see our first hummingbird until the first week of April in this part of West Tennessee and since I've been missing them since they left last October I thought it was time to make one. I started designing this pattern a few weeks ago and was finally happy with it and ready to start. Below are some highlights of how I put this hummingbird suncatcher together.

I've already cut all the glass pieces out by hand and I've started the process of fitting them together on the pattern. The glass that I chose for the belly is a pearly iridescent white glass with soft hues of pinks/yellows/greens. Iridescent glass is reflective, like a mirror and its really awesome at night when just a bit of artificial light hits it.

Each piece needs to fit pretty tight to its neighboring piece. To get this close, the pieces need to be grinded to remove any extra glass. I've also chosen to use dark green iridescent glass for the parts that are the bird's head, wings and tail. The clear glass in the wings are textured iridescent glass, too.

Here all the pieces have been fit and I'm ready to start the foiling process.

I've used 4 different copper foils for this project. 2 are black backed foils at different widths for the glass pieces that are more see through and 2 are copper backed foils for the glass that is more dense.

Ready for solder, all the pieces are tacked down. Left to right--flux, 60/40 lead tin solder, damp sponge for wiping the iron tip off, glimpse of the solder iron and a block of sal ammonaic. Even though the damp sponge helps to clean the solder iron tip off, sal ammonaic helps remove the oxidation that forms on the tips for better solder results.

Here, I've started the solder process on one side of the suncatcher.

Once the front side is done, the piece is flipped over and the back side is soldered also.

I've measured out how much lead came I need. Lead came is the outside metal framing that gets wrapped around this suncatcher.

Here's a view of one of the loops I've soldered to the back of the frame so this piece can hang by way of chain. This piece has two loops attached.

I needed to give this bird an eye. The eye is simply a ball of solder added to a solder line.

Black patina--a chemical--darkens the shiny silver solder to a rich dark grey color. Left on its own, the silver solder and lead will eventually turn a dark color on its own--we're just speeding up the process.

Done! I really had fun putting this piece together and I really like the bright bold colors that I picked for it. I'll be doing more of these in different colors soon and in different sizes. This piece measures 12 diameter, 30cm. Next time I'll probably do one at around 8 inches.

Spring is finally springing up here--one of my daffodils has started to open up just a bit. Can't wait for the wave of yellow happiness that these beautiful flowers create in the months ahead.

Wherever you are, have a safe and happy week. Look to the skies if you get a chance--you might be pleasantly surprised to see an awesome creature of nature.

Wings and things

I've tried for many, many years to get photos of hummingbirds, but they always move much to fast for me or leave the feeder just when I'm ready to get a shot of them. A few weeks ago, I got lucky. Right before I was to take this feeder down and switch it with a clean one, I took a break on my front porch-camera in hand. On this evening the activity at the feeder was pretty good. Here are just two of the half dozen that were flying around the front feeder~the activity at the back feeder was also good.

These are juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, the most commonly seen hummingbird east of the Mississippi River. They come to North America for their breeding cycle and I've been lucky enough to find one of their tiny little nest a few years back. The adult males with their shimmering red throats have already made their journey south to their wintering grounds. I'm jealous of the folks out West, they get a wider variety of hummingbirds. Strictly a "New World" bird, its always a pleasure to see these flying jewels. But these cute little jewels have an aggressive side to them and are extremely territorial.

The hummer on the left kept trying to get a drink of the sugar water mix~meanwhile the one that's in midair kept trying to get it to leave. A few times the midair hummer would actually try and land on the other's head to get it to go away.

After a little while things seemed to settle down and they realized that they could enjoy some 'juice' together.
As of today, we still have a few of these juveniles hanging around the yard. Soon, they too will be gone for the season. For the 10 years that I have been tracking their arrival and departure dates from three different locations in Middle and West Tennessee, the second week of October is when they usually leave for good.

Speaking of birds, here is my next project that I need to get started on. Its a Snowy Owl suncatcher and a custom order. Once its completed, it will measure nearly 14" diameter. The owl will be sitting on a snow covered log with snow on the ground around it. The background will be a deep cobalt blue with a full moon split in half by the trunk of a tree. I've been excited about building this piece for some time~but my customer requested that they did not want it until November at the earliest. I can't wait until its done, depending on how things work out I might build one for my Etsy shop.

Wishing everyone a wonderful, peaceful Sunday.

The hummers are here!

No, not the rolling gas hogs, but the lovely flying jewels that grace North America from spring until fall. This year marks the earliest arrival to our location in Middle/West Tennessee since I started keeping track of their arrival times in 2000. We had our first male Ruby-throated on the evening of March 26, 2009. The females have yet to arrive here. Right away I started cooking up a batch of hummingbird 'food' since the flowers that are their primary source of food in the form of nectar have yet to open. Small insects are another staple of their diet. I will continue to feed them throughout their time here, which is usually October.

I've never felt the need to purchase 'hummingbird food' but have always made my own. There is no need to offer them the artificial coloring that comes in store bought mixtures!! Here is my recipe:

Bring 4 cups of water to a rolling boil
Add 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
Return to boil and boil for 1 minute
Allow to cool then fill your feeder~simple and easy. Store unused mixure in the refridgerator.

Next time we'll talk about the proper way to clean a hummingbird feeder~NO SOAP, just hot water and bleach.