Fall hummingbird migration

In West Texas fall is the best time of year to see a large number of hummers and the largest diversity. So that's when the hummer festival and banders convene here. This evening I went to the festival (in Fort Davis) for a while. Got to visit some more with the participants who visited the oasis Friday and also see Sheri Williamson's excellent presentation on hummingbirds. There was a lot of knowledge crammed into it, which I hope I can retain somewhat.

Previously, I hadn't realized that hummers existed in the Old World (millions of years ago), where they became extinct, but flourish in the Americas. And I had never realized that they thrive best in mountains, and not the rain forests as I had assumed.  I think that's interesting because Lucifer Hummingbirds favor mountain slopes for nesting, and Lucifers are the Christmas Mountains main hummingbird nesting species, although Black-chinneds nest there too.

Above is Sheri starting her presentation. 

Kelly, of course, is the backbone of the festival and next week he's hosting about 40 banders. They'll be banding at CMO twice next week. Hope they have a great time. I'll keep you updated.