BIRDS: Our bird watchers have been diligent the past couple days in keeping tabs of their feathered visitors.

Hummingbird sightings were reported to us from all over the area over the weekend — the first we’ve heard since a reader contacted us more than a week ago wondering where the little rascals have been.

We heard nothing for several days, then suddenly we were flooded with calls.

In Marvindale, Betty Simmons spotted hummingbirds about 1 p.m. Saturday.

Reader Dot Cummings had a hummingbird at her feeder at 7:20 p.m. on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, Beth Alviti of Chamberlain Hollow, Bradford, saw a hummingbird at her home.

Jody Jaros of Port Allegany saw her first hummingbird on Monday.

On Fessenden Road in Roulette Township, “The Clark residence has hummingbirds,” a household member called Tuesday to tell us. She explained that on Monday, “I took the feeders in yesterday for the violent weather.” The feeders went back out about 9 a.m. Tuesday, and hummingbirds were there by noon.

On Tuesday, Otto Township resident James Bogdan reported, “I was sitting in the living room this morning, and I saw this little flash where we usually have a hummingbird feeder.” He quickly made some hummingbird food and got the feeder back out, and not long after saw a hummingbird again.

A resident of Riley Road apartments called to say hummingbirds and a male Baltimore oriole made their way by his residence on Friday.

On Tuesday, “with that last big gust of wind,” in came a female Baltimore oriole and a rose-breasted grosbeak. “Boy, are they pretty,” he said.

The Andersons on Clark Lane in Bradford had their first Baltimore oriole at 8:45 a.m. Monday.

If you’re looking to attract hummingbirds, the Penn State Extension website offered some advice.

To make hummingbird food for a feeder, mix sugar in boiled water, then let it cool before putting it in the feeder. Following the ideal ratio — one part sugar to four parts water — is important because a weaker solution might not attract them, but a stronger solution may make them sick. Don’t use honey, which can be harmful to hummingbirds, too.

Planting a variety of flowering plants that bloom from May into September also helps to attract hummingbirds, according to the Extension.

Hummingbirds seem most attracted to red, pink and orange flowers, but they don’t have a rule against flowers of any color. Perhaps it’s their lawlessness and reckless speed that attract us to them.