Nature Happenings

•Loon chicks begin to dive for their own food.

 

Loon with chick

•Gray Jays (aka Whiskey Jacks) are common at campsites where they are fearless.

 

Gray Jay

•Bats begin mating in mid-August.

 Bat colony

•American Widgeon and Surf Scoters arrive this month.

 

Surf Scoter

•Goldfinches nesting.

 

American Goldfinch with nest & hatchlings

• Black-headed Grosbeaks, the earliest fall transient, depart, followed by the Bullock’s Oriole.

Black Headed Grosebeak

Bullock's Oriole

 

•Steller's Jays and squirrels fight over green hazelnuts.

Stellar's Jay

 

Green Hazelnuts

 

•Douglas Squirrels drop fir cones to stash for winter.

 Douglas squirrel with fir cone

•Rufous Hummingbirds depart the lowlands and begin their migration to Mexico.

 Rufous Hummingbird

•Yellow-bellied Marmots and Beldings Ground Squirrels begin their long winter hibernation.

 

Yellow-bellied Marmot

 

Belding Ground Squirrel

•Flocks of Vaux’s Swifts migrate through. Watch them dive into chimneys to roost in the evening.

 

Vaux's Swifts

•Keep hummingbird feeders full. Rufous Hummingbirds will almost double their weight before migrating.

 

Rufous Hummingbird at High Perch Feeder

• Perseids Meteor shower is mid-month.

 

Perseids Meteor Shower