This morning we have had a pretty good movement of post breeding birds moving through our property on the west end of the Skamania County. The berries on the Cascara trees are starting to ripen and are drawing in flocks of fruit eating birds that will be here now until fall as the different fruit bearing trees we have planted ripen. WESTERN TANAGERS, CEDAR WAXWINGS, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, and even the vireos like the Cascara fruits, one of my favorite bird attracting trees, as the fruit ripens unevenly, lasting until late summer. We hadn't had many BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS this year so a flock of 12 at our feeders was unusual. Each of our five clumps of "Lucifer" crocrosmia and our three hummingbird feeders have multiple hummers fighting over them, we are using three cups of hummingbird food a day. This is the time when we start watching for any wandering species to show up here and this morning we had our first of the fall CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD show up, we have yet to have a Black-chinned this year as none stopped by during the Spring migration. We had only six warblers but of three species, ORANGE-CROWNED, BLACK-THROATED GRAY and WILSON'S. And this was the first morning since early spring that we haven't heard a COOPER'S HAWK as the young in the nest near the house have fledged. Wilson Cady
Columbia River Gorge, WA