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^^^ thanks David - she's a monster! Sadly we have to figure out a way to mover her - poor placement by landscaper we used, just one of several that we are dealing with over time. Blue Star Amsonia are just starting their show and I expect hummers will follow soon.
We get back up to our Mtn home Sunday afternoon, traffic/weather/stuff cooperating.
A few species/varietals will be poking up/budding, but many kinds won't be doing much until closer to May.
The giant, 100-200+ yr old oaks, et al don't even leaf out until mid May at our elevation, as 'they' are working off decades/centuries of the real winters they were used to.
Back at Mt Home this past Sunday, hung Hummer feeder Monday: saw first hummer Wed and a couple have come by to feed a few times a day, though I don't view the feeder continually.
Wonder what the spread of H5N1 will do to that species?
I posted, as did a few others in previous year, that our Spring/Summer/Autumn species count is down a bit, as is the number of each species, anecdotally via my observation of our mtn house deck feeding situ... Hmmm.
The virus spread and impact on bird species and mammal species, ranging up and down both N and S America, is remarkable and gives one pause...
Otoh, I saw a Black Throated Blue Warbler yesterday, ignoring the bird seed but busy searching for insects in a flowering stage Pin Cherry tree just off our deck. I observed through binocs from ~ 15 ft away to ID/memorize the visual, and had to look species up in my SMNP bird book and Goog'd it for better ID.
We have some infrequent species that pass through during the non-winter season, but I had never seen this species before, in the wild.
GL, mD
Welcome back to the mountains mD. What a pretty little bird! I have not noticed a difference in birds around us but that's likely because we don't have feeders and thus a consistent location to view and notice variations. The H5N1 spread to mammals is attention getting, for sure.
Thank you, DLM2000!
Have refrained from putting up seed feeders so far: several Mtn top neighbors have posted door cam vids & pics of a couple of different bears going 'door to door', in the last few weeks.
So, I just sprinkle some seed on deck rail and deck surface and glance out the kit window and big window wall and sit on deck occasionally during the day to see who/what species are around.
Bear scat is apparent on my morning trudge, but no sighting yet, which is OK by me.
FWIW - It seems that the number of hummers at my feeders this year is substantially lower than in previous years. I'd guess about 6 or so birds routinely visit? Hard to say exactly, of course, but most of my feeders (6) sit empty while in prevous years even more feeders (10-12 depending on traffic) were almost continuously occupied and the center of many aerial skirmishes.
Again, hard to say, but my impression has been that the hummer traffic this year at my feeders is much lighter than in previous years at this time...
Barely Hummer related, but our neighbor four houses away has a back deck about 30 or 40 feet elevated according to the drop off in his backyard. He has had two BBQ grills completely destroyed by bears climbing the wooden supports (similar to MD's posting a few years ago of the bear climbing his deck).
We, on the other hand, have a relatively flat lot and only 8 to 10 foot elevated deck. No bears. BUT, we keep our BBQ grill in the garage when not in use and no hummingbird feeders, just flora and fauna through the yard and potted flowers on the deck that attract them.
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