Hey Bill,

Interesting about your “brown” Black-chinned. I saw one quite similar. Had to back up from feeder & look very closely through binocs to make sure it was, indeed, a male Black-chinned. I finally decided it just hadn’t fully molted yet. 

Brian 

If there’s a male Broad-tailed around you’ll be able to hear the
wing trill. Keep your ears open…

Cliff

Not certain reason they disappeared as a summer resident to just a
passing fall migrant. Haven’t seen a male, as of yet, this season.
But, I’m definitely on the alert now. 

Had spotted a female earlier but, finally, did see a male Western
Tanager on Fri. So, really felt all was then good with spring
migration. Hope the Sandhill colt does well. 

Brian Carrigan 
Blackfoot 

-- 
Cliff and Lisa Weisse
Island Park, Idaho
cliffandlisa@...

Not certain reason they disappeared as a summer resident to just a passing fall migrant. Haven’t seen a male, as of yet, this season. But, I’m definitely on the alert now. 

Had spotted a female earlier but, finally, did see a male Western Tanager on Fri. So, really felt all was then good with spring migration. Hope the Sandhill colt does well. 

Brian Carrigan 
Blackfoot 

36 yrs ago, when we first moved into our place along the Snake River, our predominant hummingbird was the Broad-tailed. Over the past decade, they were gradually replaced by Black-chinneds, which now nest on our property. 

Have been watching this weekend & doing some estimates based on individuals I can identify & amt of nectar going through & came up with about 15 individual Black-chinned Hummingbirds consistently hitting the feeder. I refilled the feeder just a bit ago & as I was getting ready to place on its hangar, a Hummer arrived, literally 2 ft away. Even perching on the little stand in front of the port, while I’m holding it. And, it was a female Broad-tailed! They will nest in riparian areas & we have flowing water with willows edging the backyard. So, maybe a return? Have seen several more times since, now that I’m alerted. 

Brian Carrigan 
Blackfoot 

Had to look up an observation today. Earlier in the month, I found several cleanly halved Robin’s eggs in the yard, indicating a hatched egg. As opposed to one broken all up, revealing predator damage. We were still having snow, but a few Robins must have started nesting quickly, upon returning. Today, saw a juvenile, spotted Robin in the yard that could fly well. 

Looked it up, and Robins can have 2 & even 3 successful broods per season. I had never really considered this. But, as they’re one of the first to arrive on Spring grounds (& have wintered over, at times), apparently waste no time getting started with nesting. 

Another, I’m not nearly so fond of, but which nest on the place (taking tree cavities from natives!) are European Starlings. Which…can also raise 2 broods in a season. Not, nearly as excited about that! 

Brian Carrigan 
Blackfoot 

My last harbinger of Spring arrived today. A female Western Tanager appeared in a Russian Olive tree & stayed for a couple of hours, fly-catching. It’ll head to higher elevation, but nice to know the gang’s all here! 

A male Black-chinned Hummingbird is wasting no time with his display flights, either. Have been outside most of the day & have seen & heard no fewer than 4 display flights…large sweeping U-shaped flights, repeated 8-10 times. Shorter “U” flights when a female appears at the feeder, with his feathers “whirring” to attract attention.

Brian Carrigan 
Blackfoot

This was a message on BirdChat today.