Stuck Inside

I think it's been sunny this week, but I'm not entirely sure because we've been smothered in so much wildfire smoke that it's hard to tell what's going on around us.

Week in Review

There's not much to say this week. With all this smoke, there wasn't any motivation to be outside, and wildlife sightings were mostly limited to what folks could see from their houses.

The most notable observation this week was the large numbers of songbirds gathering to migrate, or perhaps even migrating.

Every day there's been a steady trickle of warblers, wrens, flycatchers, hummingbirds, and groups of sparrows moving through the yard, indicating that there's a larger movement happening in the valley.

There's little motivation to hang around if you're a bird who's ready to migrate. Things are drying out, food supplies are dwindling, and it seems like a great time to start heading south.

One surprise in the mix of birds was a family of fledgling western bluebirds. This would represent a late breeding effort and shows that bluebirds have a long breeding season in the Methow Valley that could include two or more clutches of babies.

This is also the season when praying mantises are conspicuous, and I'm sure that many folks have been noticing them. They're busy looking for mates in late summer so they can lay their eggs in hardened cases before winter sets in. You might even spot a larger female eating a male as he mates with her!

There's been a notable absence of swallows recently, perhaps due to the smoke, but the skies are still filled with a remarkable number of darner dragonflies, plus a few forlorn nighthawks calling and hunting somewhere in the smoky void overhead.

Hopefully we'll see some clear skies next week—it would be a welcome relief to enjoy a bit of this summer. Fingers crossed!