Nature Happenings

• NABA National Butterfly count.
• Garter snakes give birth to seven – 30 young during July or August.
• Except for goldfinches and late bluebirds, bird breeding and nesting season ends this month.
• Thistle plants begin to seed; goldfinches gather thistledown for nesting material.
• Mallards and wood ducks molt into “eclipse” plumage and are unable to fly for several weeks.
• Fall migration starts this month with returning shorebirds.
• Blackbirds begin to flock and appear at feeders.
• Treefrogs begin singing and mating through July.
• Second broods of squirrels are born.
• Fawns begin traveling with adult females.
• Butterfly milkweed in bloom. Look for Monarch Butterfly adults, eggs and larva.
• Keep your feeders and bird baths clean and your seed fresh.
• Final brood of hummingbirds begin to appear at feeders.
• Delta Aquarids Meteor shower peaks in late-July.