I hung two hummingbird feeders yesterday and they're already being visited.
Still trying to get grass to grow.
I am south of denver and had humming birds for 3 weeks. i get about 12 bluebirds at a time on one meal worm brick. They stand on each others backs often. They are my favorite to watch right now. Roufous humming birds ar the best, but wont be here for a while. Their mating displays are nuts, little dive bombers/kamakazis.
Dozens of finch, woodpeckers(downy/hairy), nut hatches, groesebeak, toway, flicker, stellar//grey/scrub/blue jay. Then we get predators like redtail, sharpshin, swaison, kestrel, barn/horned owls. They hang in the trees and hit the birds on the ground. If we get any doves or pigeons, they get toasted quick.
We had mange take out all the fox recently. No coyote right now either so we can have a turkeys come through that will devistate my perennial garden in minutes, so we have the dog chase them out. We regularly see 50-100 turkeys at a time.
We get white tail and mule deer, but have dog chase them too. If I forget the bird feeders or accidentally leave out garbage we will get black bear. My dog goes freaking crazy for the bear. She will smell them 100 ft from the house with all the windows shut.
Trails 15 minutes from house, I see antelope, elk, lions. We also get C130, F18, F16, CH47, UH60 practicing low flight right over our house reqularly. Thunderbirds make an appearance at least once a year for AFA graduation. I do really love where I live.
I have used this mix:
The High Mountain Grass Seed Mix is a resilient mix of small to medium-height grasses designed for use in high elevation areas (from 7,500 to around 9,000 ft. in the southern parts of the Intermountain states and above approximately 6,000 to around 8,000 ft. in the northern part of the...
www.highcountrygardens.com
And this fescue:
Our Low Work and Water Dwarf Fescue Grass Seed Mix is the solution for a low-maintenance drought tolerant lawn. An easy care turf, it stops the traditional once-per-week cutting required by traditional Kentucky Bluegrass -- perfect for those of us with better things to do than weekend lawn work...
www.highcountrygardens.com
I cannot get thier buffalo grass to take. It gets -20 to 100 here. I rake, mix seed with compost spread, then another 1/2" compost with some small mulch. I water a mega ton, perhaps 30 minutes 4x per day until I see grass, then 2x. After the first year, it requires no watering.
2 of the watering are before sunrise, after sunset, then two during day.
watering just a few minutes like you are would not work here. it would just dry up instantly. my soil is sand/quartz.