Bennington Lake today

Summer is officially here, and the weather is finally cooperating.  Birds were very busy singing, building nests and feeding young this morning on our walk.  We watched house wrens and downy woodpeckers taking food to young.  There was one western tanager and a western flycatcher calling from the cottonwoods.  Gray catbirds are plentiful this year - we counted 8 of them.  Other summer birds are present in about the same numbers as in previous years - Bullock's orioles, black-headed grosbeaks, yellow warblers, western wood peewees, cedar waxwings, and eastern kingbirds.  A male northern harrier hunted low along the hillside to the east of the lake and the osprey successfully caught a fish.  The trail is a little easier to walk now that the hemlock has been cut back somewhat. However, it is still over eight feet high along the sides of the trail, making it hard to find birds, especially the chats.  It's always fun to hear so many different birds singing along the trail.  I recommend you find time to go out an enjoy the sounds and the sights.  Just a short walk from the parking lot on the lower trail to the beginning of the hemlock is sure to reward you with a nice variety of birds.   Ginger