Heralded by thunderstorms in the night, a cold front dipped along the Colorado Front Range yesterday, bringing morning rain mixed with snow; throughout the gloomy afternoon, the temperature remained in the 30s F. Our summer birds must have thought they took a wrong turn on their journey from the south.
Then again, they may "remember" that winter is often reluctant to leave Metro Denver and that they rarely return to persistent warm weather when they arrive from balmy latitudes. Yet, our new borders were unfazed by the conditions; the house wrens were calling from damp shrub lines and a broad-tailed hummingbird noisy zoomed through the chilly air.
Unlike humans, they cannot afford to dwell on the weather. After all, they must nest and raise their young in a relatively short period of time. Evading nature's meteorologic challenges is not on their agenda.
