Finally I had a good Rufous sighting of a male at the feeder. I thought I had a female late last week, but this guy was for sure. Interesting it’s about a week later than when I’ve seen them in past years. In fact all my hummer activity is running 1-2 weeks later than the past; they showed up 1.5 weeks late and feeder emptying numbers are 1.5 -2 weeks behind last year. I wonder if numbers are just down or they are late and will depart later than usual. All three local breeds are furious displaying and active. Yesterday two I think Calliope females were doing a running twirling mid-air beak fencing match at one of the feeders. My guess is first brood is about fledged (some stubby beaks at the feeders) and the second batch is on the way.

I saw somewhere that House Wrens were in decline. Not here. We have loads, quite a racket.

Finally we had a small kettle of Franklins Gulls go through last night near dusk. I have not seen Nighthawks yet or heard Poorwills ( but I haven’t tried real hard on Poorwills).

Bill Moore
Hoot Owl
Inkom