The invasion of Evening Grosbeaks to my feeder in Albion, Whitman
Co., Washington was late in arriving but it has been worth the wait. It
started slowly with only two on May 6 and three on May 7. Then came the
main wave. On May 8, I had more than twenty at the feeder in the front yard
and countless others calling from all of the trees in the neighborhood.
They were literally everywhere. Mother's Day found me with my mother in
Boise, Idaho, so I have no idea how many were around then. On May 12 they
are still coming to the feeder in high numbers and I can hear them all
around the house.
The hummingbirds are starting to slow down. Thursday, May 7, I had
my first Black-chinned Hummingbirds of the year, both a male and a female
were feeding. I also had three male Calliopes, two male Rufous and several
females of both species visiting the feeder regularly. Now I am down to a
Black-chin and a male Rufous. They seem to have either migrated out of the
Palouse or they now depending on more natural foods.
The only new migrants I observed were in Boise County, Idaho, near
the town of Crouch. I heard Nashville Warblers, Solitary Vireos and
Chipping Sparrows and an Empidonax I couldn't identify (either Dusky or
Hammond's Flycatcher).
Deb Beutler
Washington State Univerisity
Pullman, Whitman Co., WA
dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu