Birding has been slow at best in Chester during these dog days of August. However in the backyard tonight I counted 17 Cardinals in all sorts of plumages. 2 Towhees were scratching under the bird bath as well as 3-5 Brown Thrashers. Pine warblers were trilling in the tree-tops. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are aggressively draining the feeders and the garden has had a good variety of butterflies including a Monarch chrysalis I am keeping a photographer's vigil on. On a sad note a Juvenile Grey Catbird hit the window today and used up all 9 lives in one fail swoop. Most of the birds are looking pretty rough-still keeping them fed and watered and looking forward to another round of migration. Julie K. Chester