A Hint of Autumn Brings Birds and Other Visiting Critters

Sunday, August 9, 2026

The weather is changing. Even though days warm to mid-80s, I feel it.  August 3 the temperature dipped to 37 degrees and didn’t reach 70 degrees.  It feels like we are creeping toward autumn.  There has been no rain for over a week, and smoke hovers in the air, creating a veil that shields the land from sun.  We could use the rain, to douse the fires surrounding us and clear the air.

We stayed close to the cabin this week. Tim was able to fish the South Fork nearby, and we took Daisy on hikes up Buttermilk Trail and off the Madison Arm Road. The library hike went up Gneiss Creek Trail this week on Thursday.  It was a beautiful morning; the smoke wasn’t bad then.  It always gives great open views of the Gallatin Mountains, Hebgen Lake and Yellowstone meadows

We put up bird feeder Friday and were almost immediately rewarded with a flock of mountain chickadees. We added a tray of sunflower seed and attracted evening grosbeaks, pine siskins, nut hatches and a black-headed grosbeak female. They peck at the seek in the tray and the deck floor, joust with each other and feed the juveniles.  The juveniles are almost as big as the adults, except for their fuzzy heads. The males are striking in their black-white wings and orange breasts.

            We have also lured chipmunks to the deck with a shallow pan of millet and corn seed. It took a short while to encourage them up the steps, but now they know where to find it.  They, too, fuss at each other as they munch seeds, chase other chipmunks away.  One chipmunk has a scratch or bite under its chin, perhaps the result of an argument.  It doesn’t seem to bother it.  I should add that we take these feeders down each evening and fill them and put them out only when we are here to avoid attracting bears.

            The bird bath on the deck railing is also getting some use.  A bird or a squirrel will stop and drink.  There is a squirrel who also likes the feeders and snatches some seed. The squirrels here are smaller than in Texas.  This week I watched one run back and forth from a pine tree across the drive to a neighbor’s front porch, diving under the deck; probably storing pine nuts.

The trail cams have been capturing deer and the moose and calf at different times of day.  It’s surprising that they walk by the cabins even in the middle of the day.  One morning, the cow and calf were at the salt block at 7:30 a.m.  We were lucky to see her through the guest room window.

– Christine Baleshta