Kristin, That is a very neat graph! So yeah I can see that the peak hasn't reached yet. And I usually don't have one stay around until August. Once or twice I had a male swing through on his way to better wooded areas. But I still hope that this may be a better year for me... My friend have hummers but live near a lot of trees - we have just a few. And I wonder if living near a busy street has anything to do with it...? Also we are right near the sound so if any are flying in after stopping on Long Island they may just fly right over us. Thanks, Carol

Sorry, I had not been keeping up on this thread. Thanks for the report, Ksokiegonnab. Gamebird, if the caterpillars are on parsley, then they are indeed Black swallowtails. If they can continue to eat with this "cooler" weather that we are having, they will wander off, and find a sheltered area to make a chrysalis. They will overwinter as a chrysalis, and emerge on a warm day in the spring. Moths tend to burrow down into loose soil or debris, and make a cocoon, to emerge in the spring. Betty, thanks for your exciting report of the Monarchs in your yard! Butterflies are very host specific on what they lay their eggs on. Monarchs only lay their eggs on milkweed. Snow on the Mountain is not in the milkweed family. Perhaps, there is milkweed in the alley or pasture nearby??? If you have parsley or fennel in your yard, the caterpillars may have been Black swallowtails. The tropical milkweed is easy to obtain and grow. It is an excellent nectar source, as well as host plant for the Monarchs to lay their eggs on. You may be able to find some native mw growing in some fencelines or pastures, and find some with some interesting seedpods, tobring some seeds home for a native plant area. As you increase your nectar and host plants in your garden, you will begin to find lots of butterflies seeking out your yard. Good luck with your garden, and thanks for your interest.

Thank you for your kind comments! We visited the fish hatchery last weekend but didn't see one migrant. Yesterday morning we hit the bird lottery, though. A rare migrant and two lifers, as well as a warbler. I took so many photos (over 1700) that my computer has been barely functional, so have had trouble working on the photos. Time to install a second hard drive, just for photos (sigh)

"One thing I noticed this summer is that our barn swallows embarked early on their migration." They did the same thing this year, maybe left 3 weeks earlier. And Left a mess. They seemed to make bigger nests, used allot more mud and dropped so much more below the nests. I do have to admit I love at how graceful they are in flight and it is so fun to watch them learn how to fly from the balcony. The parents are so encouraging to the young birds when they are training them how to fly. Here is a link that might be useful: Alpiste Canary Bird Seed