I have a photo of a hummingbird sitting on a branch and flying straight up over it’s head to catch a gnat. I watched it do this two or three times before I caught on to what he was doing. Had my camera ready for the next one.
Sometimes surprises me, the diff’t bird types I see fly-catching. Townsend’s Solitaires, for instance. Today, added a new one to my list: Black-headed Grosbeak. Saw a bird fly straight up, out from a tree, & snatch some insect mid-air. Then dive back into the tree. Surprised, when watched once again thru binocs, & saw it was a BH Grosbeak. Very cool.
Still have Rufous Hummingbirds coming thru daily. Inclined to think the Moose Fire, up by Salmon, is probably displacing some Rufous a bit earlier than usual. That combined with just the extraordinary heat, we’re having. We usually start seeing Rufous fall migrants by 2nd wk of August. Been seeing for 2 wks now.
The Ruth Melichar bird rehab center has a Bank Swallow they would like to release. Since Bank Swallows are not common on my route, I told them I would ask the list if there are any active colonies in the Boise area where they could release
the bird. If you know of any, please let me know, and I will pass it on. You can reply directly to me or post it to the list.
This looks like a normal male Black-chinned Hummingbird. He seems to be undergoing some body molt on his forehead (you can see the white pin feathers there showing new feathers growing in). These stiff pins are probably what lead to the odd feather posture.
This time of year we see many male Black-chinned molting some body feathers. They seem to fit in some of their molt before they begin migrating south, then complete their molt on their wintering grounds.
This is good information for me. Thank you. Typically I get no hummingbirds through the summer, so I don’t put feeders out anymore, but the fall migration brings mostly rufous and rarely the Blackchinned or Calliope. I’ll hang out some hummer grub tomorrow!!
Thanks for the report so we can all be looking for those migrants. I do occasionally see Rufous here on the Boise Depot Bench. If I were more watchful, I’d likely see more. I’ll be watching for them.
About a week ago, saw my first “fall” migrant adult female Rufous Hummingbird come into feeder. At our altitude, along the Snake River, our resident hummingbird is the Black-chinned. So, it’s always a treat to see the first Rufous, headed back south. Have seen at least one adult Rufous everyday since. Today, a female this AM & then a beautiful, male Rufous with flaming red, flared sides gorget coming in since. Perhaps, the wildfires up Salmon-way are pushing some out, as well.
We get all 4 hummingbird types (BC, Rufous, Calliope & BT) in migration, but busiest fall migration times are mid-Aug thru Sept. Haven’t had this many fall Rufous for years.
This young guy was deep in the bushes at the Orchard Gulch Trail head on the Rocky Canyon Road (aka E Shaw Mountain Road, Race to Robie Creek Road).
I did not see an adult responding to the feed me request but I was mostly focused on helping my wife try out a new lens and find birds.
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Ken Miracle chukar28@… 208-570-2780 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5
Ken Miracle chukar28@… 208-570-2780 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5
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