Montana Hummingbirds

While visiting Montana, locals Mike and Colleen Ballinger watched these two juvenile Rufous Hummingbirds in their nest. "They were ready to fledge from their delicate camouflaged nest woven of grass, pine needles and lichen when we noticed them," Mike wrote. "We had the delight of watching them over several days at my sister-in-law's cabin on Lindburgh Lake in Montana. We did not see them fly from the nest but eventually both had departed." 

Rufous Hummingbirds also migrate through the Columbia Gorge in summer and autumn, sometimes nesting here at higher elevations. They make one of the longest migrations of any hummingbird.