We were fighting fire out South in the hills this fall and a oldtimer friend of mine stopped by to chat.
He pointed out that the buffalo berry bushes were loaded down with fruit. He said that was a sign that the birds got the hell out if Dodge while the getting was good, before a tough winter
Normally the birds stick around to eat the buffalo berry and Russian olive and then head south. This year they just high tailed it.
Thinking about it later he was right. We had a fairly bird free fall. They were gone before our first bad storm in October.
