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August 9-15, 2026

David Lukas

15 Aug 2026 • 7 min read

Eastern kingbird with an eight-spotted skimmer. Photo by David Lukas

Another week spent living in the grip of wildfire smoke, along with a few rounds of thunderstorms.

Week in Review

Despite the oppressive smoke, I discovered on a handful of outings that the seasons are steadily changing around us, and that a lot is going on outside right now. In fact, I ended up with so many photographs and observations that I can't possibly fit them into a single newsletter.

A turkey vulture taking advantage of some weak sunlight to warm its feathers. Photo by David Lukas

In particular, I wanted to understand what's happening at both lower and higher elevations, so my outings this week included a short walk in the valley and a trip up to Cutthroat Pass.

decomposing leaf — An early hint of the coming autumn. Photo by David Lukas

The first thing I've been noticing is an ongoing and steady movement of birds. As the picture at the top of the newsletter highlights, eastern kingbirds have been a conspicuous presence all week, along with migrating warblers, Vaux's swifts, and other species.

A migrating yellow warbler stopping to search for insects among bitterbrush. Photo by David Lukas

I've also been paying attention to common nighthawks because I know they are the first species to leave the valley. On the 8th, I spotted more than 20 nighthawks migrating in a large group, but I've also seen single nighthawks as recently as the 12th. It'll take a while longer to pin down the exact date the last one leaves, and I know that other people are paying attention to this question as well.

Other birds are gathering in groups and increasingly conspicuous at this time of year. For example, birds like cedar waxwings, turkey vultures, and mountain bluebirds are actively moving around, but it's not clear whether they're migrating yet.

Part of a large group of mountain bluebirds on Patterson Mountain. Photo by David Lukas

Some Mountain Observations

autumn colors — Autumn colors in late summer as a few Cascade blueberries begin to turn. Photo by David Lukas

Hiking in the mountains has been a bit of a bust this summer, with smoke everywhere and Harts Pass Road closed for the best part of the season, so I was excited when I had a chance to hike to Cutthroat Pass and see what lingering vestiges of summer I could find.

North Cascade peaks — It's great to be back in the mountains, even as smoke from Lake Chelan's Little Giant Fire fills the sky. Photo by David Lukas

What I discovered is that the vast majority of flowering plants have gone to seed, but a handful of flowers are still blooming. What's cool is that many of these flowers are irresistible magnets for the pollinating insects still flying around.

insects on flowers — Wasps, flies, and beetles gathering on a plant in the Apiaceae family, maybe an *Angelica*. Photo by David Lukas

gentain flower — There are five species of gentian in the Methow watershed, and their scattered single flowers with intense blue colors stand out among green leaves on wetter soils. Photo by David Lukas

There were not a lot of them, but the most common flower I saw this week was sickletop lousewort (*Pedicularis racemosa*). Photo by David Lukas

common butterwort — Common butterwort (*Pinguicula vulgaris*) is a unique plant that catches insects with its sticky leaves to acquire nitrogen in nutrient-poor sites. Photo by David Lukas

I've also noticed a general absence of plant foods that alarms me. On all four hikes I've done in the mountains this summer, I've only seen a few huckleberries. This worries me because they are a critical source of food for black bears, not to mention grouse, chipmunks, and ground squirrels, who need these foods to survive the winter.

Cascade huckleberry — These few spindly huckleberries were all I could find on a recent hike, and I'm not sure if these are even going to ripen. Photo by David Lukas

There also don't seem to be many conifer cones. This may be a subjective measure, but I did spot a Clark's nutcracker deep in the forest, digging through old sticks in search of food and this struck me as odd. Later in the week, I also heard a group of nutcrackers in Winthrop, and I know they generally don't descend to lower elevations unless conifer crops fail in the mountains.

Some Valley Observations

With everything drying out months ago, you'd think that things were finished for the year in the Methow Valley, yet I discovered a number of flowers on a short walk at Patterson Mountain. This isn't entirely unexpected because some plants preferentially flower in late summer when they can attract large numbers of pollinators, but it was still a pleasant surprise after being cooped up in the house for weeks and starting to feel gloomy about the summer.

rabbitbrush — Rabbitbrush is easily the most conspicuous flowering plant in late summer, and they are usually absolutely covered in pollinators. Photo by David Lukas

wasp on flower — Snow buckwheat (Eriogonum niveum) is another abundant late-summer shrub that attracts huge numbers of pollinators, including this remarkable great golden digger wasp (*Sphex ichneumoneus*).

Rose hips are a lovely example of the many plants that are now brightening the late summer landscape with their fruits and seeds. You can find three species of wild rose in the Methow Valley, along with a variety of escaped cultivated roses (mostly around old homesteads).

Observation of the Week: A Squirrelly Mystery

Our familiar red squirrels have clean white underparts and white eye crescents. Photo by David Lukas

We have two closely related tree squirrels around the Methow Valley, with Douglas squirrels being common west of the Cascade crest, and red squirrels being common east of the crest. I've long wanted to better understand where the dividing line might be, and I feel like I came one step closer this week when I found both species along the trail from Rainy Pass to Cutthroat Pass.

Granted, I only saw one individual of each species so I wouldn't call this conclusive evidence that this is where the dividing line is, but it's a great starting point for further investigation. However, what deepens the mystery even more is that I also spotted a baby that looked like it was a hybrid between the two species, indicating that this really is a transition zone.

hybrid squirrel? — It's hard to see in the glowing sunlight of this photo, but this baby squirrel had an orange rim around a whitish belly, indicating that it could be a mix of two different species. Photo by David Lukas

Doing a quick online search, I found mention of researchers who were studying this exact question around Washington Pass, so the next step would be to find someone who knows more about this fascinating question. Stay tuned for more.

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