For Latilong 21, I first reported Black-chinned Hummingbird nest building activity on 5/29. This evening, I saw my first juvenile Black-chinned Hummingbird come into the feeder. I looked it up & hummingbirds can go from egg to flying independence in 3-4 wks time. Fast! I believe this one is a male, as it had all the characteristics noted in Sibley’s of a juvenile with about 3 black/dk purple feathers at center base of neck. An adult male & female have been hitting the feeder for a couple of weeks now.

Although, I never saw the nest itself, all the activity centered from spider web gathering to back-&-forth flights by the female Black-chinned to one of our blue spruce trees, until this past weekend, when I watched the female sallying for mid-air insects last Friday. Since then, most flights have occurred to a cottonwood & streamside willows. This progression has been quite fun & rewarding to witness.

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot/Latilong 21

Tom McCabe asked me to post this bird he’s seeing at the “back pond” at
Esther Simplot, the pond that parallels Veteran’s Pond. Unusual to see this
bird in town per se; I might see it a little more often at Lucky Peak Res
and in the “canyon section” of the greenbelt, upstream of the Diversion Dam,
but downtown is unusual and Tom says he’s only seen a few along the
greenbelt in his birding career.

Thanks for calling, Tom =)

Larry