One day at a time

I just try to make it through each day and not think about how long this drought might continue at my place.... as I watch it rain daily all around me.

So this morning we banded in the Davis Mountains. It rained there. Then I rushed to my oasis to fill feeders and haul water to my cottonwoods. It rained all around me there. Then, back to Alpine so I'll be closer to tomorrow's banding site. Whew! Yes, it rained a bit in Alpine today, too. (More the day before yesterday.)

Here's a photo of my feeder cluster in Alpine. I have more feeders than you can see on the photo, but this cluster is their favorite buffet. I counted nine hummers on the photo. How many do you see? Click to enlarge.

I didn't count that shadow right below the center that's probably a hummer moving really fast. We're going to band here Monday morning. I'll get a better idea of how many hummers are here then, but for now I'd estimate at least 50 of 4 or 5 species. (Lucifer, Black-chinned, Rufous, Calliope, and probably an Allen's. Need bird in hand or a photo of the tail spread to determine the latter.)