Now that Memorial Day is past and there is seemingly little to do until July Fourth, why not take a nice ride and visit the Sargents. Just get into your car, hop onto Highway 79, and head south towards Birmingham. When you cross the Blount County line and enter Jefferson County, get off on Highway 151 then Highway 148 into Clay. Ask anyone and they will direct you to Bob and Margaret Sargent, the Hummer Bird folks.

I had the good fortune to meet these wonderful folks at the R.S.V.P in Guntersville May 26^th during their Hummingbird seminar. They attract people like a bee to honey, or in this case a Hummingbird to nectar.

Bob and Martha Sargent found a magnet that attracted them together long ago in grade school in a small coal mining settlement. They were separated as their parents moved to a better location but found each other again some thirty-five years later. They owned an electrical fabrication company, which their children now operate. Martha was and is a lover of flowers and birds and soon her addiction overpowered Bob and together they founded the HBSG (Hummer Bird Study Group). That was some twenty years ago and from that time until now their group has grown from two to over One Thousand Nine Hundred members.

It’s time for a little quiz: Did you know that eight little hummingbirds could be mailed using just Forty-eight cents worth of postage? Are you aware their nests are the size of an English walnut standing on end? How about the size of their eggs being the size of a Black Eyed Pea?

Strange myths are attached to these little fellows; for instance, folks used to believe that they attached themselves on the back of geese to migrate. Another is that they all go south in winter; then there is that old “husband’s tale” as Bob put it, that all those little fellows you see in your yard are the same ones day after day.

You should keep up your hummingbird feeder all winter. Those birds migrate from as far south as South American en route to as far north as the North Pole. They stop by these feeders for food. They fly thousands of miles at a rate of up to 30 MPH and need that nourishment. It is easy to pick up a good feeder, fill it with water and sugar, mixing one cup of sugar to every four cups of water. (And please, don’t put food coloring in it!)

If you do find a hummingbird feeding in your feeder after November 1^st, call Bob and Margaret at 205-681-2888 and they will do their very best to come to your home, band that little bird, and tell you all about which of the seventeen species it is, and answer any other questions you may have.

There are a lot of rumors “flying around” about these mighty mites, but many are not true. If you would like to increase your knowledge, or maybe even become a member of this wonderful bird-banding group of folks, or perhaps you goal would be to become a bander yourself. Turn on that computer and go towww.hummingbirdsplus.org. You will be glad you did.