Labor Day Snow Storm

[Hummer]

I used to have hummingbirds visit my window feeder every 10-15 minutes. Haven't seen one in nearly 2 weeks. I think they sensed an early change of seasons and headed south already. Took a drive out west along 24 and saw a small grove of aspens that had already gone fully gold.

The vast majority of hummingbirds fly south out of CO by the third week of August. Fewer than 5% of the Aug 1 birds are left on Sept 1. Migrant hummingbirds flying through the flatlands, both Front Range and West Slope will linger longer than those moving through the mountains. I think there has been an earlier movement this year due to the drought and the resulting lessened food resources. There are fewer insects and fewer nectar and pollen producing flowers which forces the birds to move on sooner.

At our place off the Peak to Peak we may have had a couple dozen birds today, mostly juvenile Broad-tails, one adult male Broad-tailed, and this morning I spotted a juvenile Calliope. In Palisade last week I had mostly juvenile Black-chinned, two adult female Black-chinned, and a few juvenile Rufous and Calliope.

At this time it's 42 degrees and raining lightly. The morning cold will be a challenge for the remaining juvie hummingbirds. I have a couple feeders out with snow shields to keep the ports clear, and others under eaves with lamps to prevent freezing. I don't think we can save the flowering plants from heavy wet snow and sub freezing temps.








Keep your guns and your feeders clean.