Bennington Lake

It was a busy weekend at the lake.  Jon Lundak found a young northern saw-whet owl in a nest hole along the lake.  Later Mike Denny located a fledgling in a tree near the nest.  These little owls are very hard to discover because they hide so well in the brush.  There were also lazuli buntings, Bullock's orioles, spotted sandpipers, a yellow-breasted chat, and three killdeer chicks with their parents on the trail at the south end.  On the water were ruddy ducks, bufflehead and a pied-billed grebe.  We had a report of a Lewis' woodpecker and the great horned owl chicks are now fledged and sitting in the cottonwoods. There were tons of people enjoying the lake as well, many of them fishing.  Of course there was an osprey fishing too.  Yellow warblers and house wrens can be heard all around the lake.  There are more summer nesters still to arrive, so stay tuned.....   Ginger