Newspaper Page Text
Page 7C
June 29, 2022
MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry W. Johnson
Reporter
Dry weather means more hummingbirds visit feeders
number of different birds
that are likely to be using
your yard during that day
Even though it appears
that we are in for an ex
tremely hot, arid summer,
if you are a hummingbird
aficionado, you know that
the iridescent beauty and
aerial acrobatics of ruby-
throated hummingbirds will
ensure that you will enjoy
an otherwise insufferable
summer.
Then, if you provided
a combination of nectar
plants and feeders, when
the birds finally depart you
will be left with lots of fond
memories and the satisfac
tion of knowing that you
did all that you could to
help ensure they will make
it to their winter home and
return next spring.
Terry Johnson of Forsyth
is retired Program Manager
of the Georgia Nongame-
Endangered Wildlife
Program. He has written the
informative column Monroe
Outdoors for the Reporter
for many years. His book,
A Journey to Discovery,” is
available at The Reporter.
Email him at tjwoodduck@
bellsouth.net.
Stolen car wrecked?
Forsyth police found a speeding
2006 Dodge Charger that had
wrecked into the woods on Friday,
June 24. The car’s owner, Ingram
Goodson, claimed that Rodney
Mayes, 40, of Forsyth, stole the car
and wrecked it. But Goodson never
showed up to file a claim at the For
syth Police Department after he said
his mother would bring him. (Photo/
Forsyth
man
suffers
serious
facial
Northwestern Mutual
vJT Wealth Management Company
Mark Holloway, Financial Advisor
478.365.0382
mark.holloway@nm.com
www.markholloway.nm.com
No more free
lunch for all
at Monroe Co.
school cafeterias
For many students,
there’s no more free lunch
or breakfast in Monroe
County schools.
Schools have been able to
offer students breakfast and
lunch at no charge during
the last two school years.
This benefit was made
possible due to the sup
port of the United States
Department of Agriculture
continuing waivers created
during the pandemic. But
Monroe County school
director of nutrition Lisa
Budd said the waivers for
student meals at no charge
have not been renewed at
the federal level for school
year 2022-23.
So Monroe County
schools will be returning
to the National School
Lunch Program and School
Breakfast Program with re
imbursement categories of
Free, Reduced and Paid. If
you believe your student(s)
are eligible for Free or
Reduced benefits, it will be
necessary to complete and
amount of food in a short
period of time, without
having to use up a lot of
calories.
The numbers of hum
mingbirds we see in our
backyards will increase for
the next couple of months.
A few of us will be feeding
upwards of 100 or more
hummers each day. I have
found the folks that consis
tently attract the most birds
offer the migrants both a
variety of nectar plants and
feeders.
This summer we are likely
to see more hummingbirds
than usual. This is because
Monroe County is suffering
under a drought that has
being going on for weeks.
This is illustrated by the
fact that last year Monroe
County received 5-plus
inches of rain in June. As I
write this column, my rain
gauge has recorded only a
half of an inch of rain so far
for the entire month.
The dry, hot weather has
had a deleterious impact on
nectar plants. Some plants
have withered and died;
others are generating far
less nectar than normal.
This means that the birds
will be forced to depend
more heavily on our feeders.
This is unfortunate because
although our homemade
nectar offers them huge
amounts of sugar, they also
submit a Free & Reduced
Meal Application prior to
the start of school. Only
one Free & Reduced Meal
Application per house
hold is needed. Free and
Reduced Meal Applications
will be available online at
SchoolCafe.com beginning
July 1 with a deadline of
July 25.
For more information
Ruby throated hummingbirds gorge on nectar at a feeder
as they pack on enough pounds to carry them on their
winter migration across the Gulf of Mexico. (Photo/Terry
Johnson).
need natural nectar for
much-needed nutrients.
If you would like to know
how many birds you are
feeding in your yard, here
is a simple way to come
up with a reliable estimate.
Keep in mind this tech
nique only works during the
summer.
When you believe you
are looking at the largest
number of birds at one time,
count them. Then multiply
this number by six. For
example, if you see 10 birds,
when you multiple 10 times
6 the total is 60. Sixty is the
about Monroe Countys
School Nutrition Program,
please contact Sandy Pep
pers, Lead Manager, at
sandy.peppers@mcschools.
org or Lisa Budd, Director
of School Nutrition, at lisa.
budd@mcschools.org or by
calling (478)992-5609.
injury in
Hwy. 41
wreck
A Forsyth man is still in the hospital after his face was severely injured by a fence post that
crashed into his vehicle when he wrecked on Hwy. 41 the morning of Thursday, June 23. Brian
Guyton, 56, of Forsyth, was going south on Hwy. 41 around 8:30 a.m. when he ran into the
northbound lane, said Monroe County Lt. Chad Beck. Guyton snatched back the wheel, over
correction, and went into the pasture fence in the yard of Otis Ingram. One of the fence post
crashed through drivers side windowed cut Guytons face pretty badly, said witnesses. Ingram
told the Reporter he just replaced part of the fence last year when someone had a diabetic
episode and plowed into it. He said he hoped the driver would be OK. (Photo/Will Davis)
S ummer is a magical
time of the year for
those of us that are
hummingbird fans.
During the hot, humid
days of summer we get to
see more hummingbirds
than we do
at any other
time of the
year.
The event
that triggers
this backyard
invasion is
the Sum
mer Solstice
which occurs
on June 21.
It is also the
first day of
summer and the longest
day of the year. This year
summer officially arrived
at 5:14 a.m. From that day
until the Winter Solstice
on December 31, each day
the amount of time the
sun shines is a few minutes
shorter than the day before.
This will continue until the
arrival of the Winter Solstice
(December 21).
Although we hardly notice
this subtle difference in day
length, it has a profound
impact on the ruby-throat
ed hummingbirds flying
about the Monroe County
countryside. Declining day
length triggers hormonal
changes in each bird.
As days become shorter,
hummingbirds begin gorg
ing themselves with food in
preparation for their epic
fall migration which will
take place weeks down the
road. This feeding binge en
ables them to store the fuel
needed to successfully make
this flight to their
winter home.
In order to con
sume this huge
amount of food,
the tiny birds visit
upwards of 1,500
individual flowers
a day. Although
their diet con
sists primarily
of nectar, small
soft-bodied in
sects, spiders and
other invertebrates are also
consumed. In order to suc
cessfully fly across the Gulf
of Mexico, each bird much
store 3/40th of an ounce
of food. This is the equiva
lent of a human weighing
170 pounds putting on 85
pounds of weight.
For decades humming
birds have been supple
menting the nectar gathered
from flowers with sugar
water supplied in feeders
hung in our backyards.
Why wouldn’t they? A
single hummingbird feeder
can provide more food than
thousands of individual
flowers. Feeders allow the
birds to consume a huge
TERRY W. JOHNSON
Monday - Friday
podcast.
etp axOdlj GGib
www.erickericksonshow.com