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Fall Migration Has Begun (1 Viewer)

T

Tammie

Well-known member
Hi Forum,
I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about this. I spotted autumn's first white throated sparrow yesterday (a female) and a couple more today. I noticed this past week that the pine siskins have disappeared. :( Sure would be nice to have a couple of them hang around all winter again like last year but I've got my doubts.
The hummers are feeding heavily... draining at least one feeder every couple of days. That's the most I've ever had them feed here!
Also noticed this week that the leaves are beginning to turn yellow. Summer is officially over after my birthday which was yesterday so that's it..... winter's comin'!! ;)
What's everyone else seeing?
 
Yep, both a sad time, and an exciting time, now. The summer birds going soon :flyaway:, the passage in full flow, and the prospect of something good out of Siberia, or the South Atlantic, or somewhere else far, far away

What am I seeing - well today, lots and lots of Roseate Terns! And two Sooty Shearwaters, specially come to visit, all the way from the Falkland Islands 8,000 miles away :bounce: :bounce:

But the leaves are still green here, and will be for nearly two months yet.

Michael
 
I am actually looking forward to winter (sorry) to see a different class of bird.

I must make an effort to see some Waxwings in the Midlands. (Don't get 'em down here, just one or two).
 
1. FALL INTO WINTER

Brittle leaves canter skittishly in the cold, -- the chill,
Wild, carded clouds scream by a shattered sky.
Halt! Start, skip, stop!
Scraping, chattering like monks' teeth
Among the naked trunks, skeletal limbs
Heaved helter-skelter
(Staccato taps as twigs snap, creaking,
That the wind breaks):
Brittle exoskeletons,
Chitinized,
Dessicated by the wind's whistle, unshriven,
Dart and rattle.

Snow crystals: cold geometry,
The dead logic of physics
Unlegislated.
White shroud, stranding the doe,
Abetting the wolf,
Restrained only by Earth's lurchings.
Dead earth, grey sky,
Cold intimations of the planet's long slow dying,
Spiralling forever into an empty universe
Mindlessly.


2. WINTER INTO SPRING

At last
From the melting snow,
A faint warmness, a gradual green, o so slow.
Whore's nipples! Cherry blossoms,
Pale pink petals already rain-matted into the good earth
To enrich its fruit.
High out of sight,
The skylark's song inveigles us
To new hope and easy forgetfulness.
0 thin, happy sun!


3. SPRING INTO SUMMER

The foetid vines like cancer spread,
Sun-driven, heat-inspirited,
Among the forbs and up the trees:
A green rage clawing helices
As if to burst the earth with infloration.
And on its back the insects fight and fatten
(Emerald elytra, webs of satin)
And swell and mate among the swelling green
Innumeration.

4. SUMMER INTO FALL

Brown they all into exhausted curls,
Leaves, larvae, nuts and sunshine shrivelling,
Disembowelled by procreation.
The birds desert.
Death peers
Through reddened leaves, through husks and shells it leers,
Brittle leaves skittering.
 
Yes Tammie, happy AND sad. The Gray Jays have been back for a few days now, knocking on my door asking for cat food. They can empty the whole bowl in the early hours before I get up - my cats don't seem to care! I also heard the first geese from the Far North on Wednesday morning. The Loons are still about but I haven't heard the Sandhills for awhile now - better take the canoe out for a trip round the lake today.
 
This time of year is always tinged with a touch of sadness as the days get shorter, but September is one of my favourite months, as the leaves begin to turn, but i love those frosty mornings by a marsh bird watching, then before we know it we are heading into spring again........
 
ive been noticing the behavior changes of fall...increased feeding, flocking...also seeing more hummers, shorebirds in my local fields, lots of snowy and great egrets at the new hampshire coast gathering in flocks with great blue herons (saw a group of these species totaling 48 last week)...migration is great spring or fall...so much diversity every where...cant wait to see what this season brings...
 
Leewee, I've been seeing a lot of Great Egrets recently too, flocking with Great Blue Herons. Starting to see them every year at the end of summer is always the first sign of autumn. And I've seen a few leaves starting to turn yellow too, like Tammie.
 
Charles, are you a poet?
Or should I know the source?

I like the autumn (fall) -- even the smell in the country air is different.
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness--not my quote!
Ken
 
Here in NW England the lower night temperatures this past few days seem to have ignited the local birds from their summer lethargy. A friend and myself travelled around 100 miles last Sunday looking, mainly, for farmland birds and saw very little. Yet on a short walk on Wednesday morning the hedgerows where 'humming' with birds. Nothing unusual, but a tangible difference from the last few weeks. Blackbirds and Song Thrushes bursting from the hedgerows, followed by a party of Bullfinches, various tits calling as they hunted for insects, a Whitethroat, then a Blackcap emerged to take a look at my dogs. A GS Woodpecker flew low over my head and, later, as I returned to my car, a Green Woodpecker called from a small oakwood - a first for me in this particular location.

saluki
 
I'm actually looking forward to winter! That's when the birding is best here. I'm currently in Southern Mexico and the cooler (though still warm) weather brings all the migratory birds and even better, puts an end to the mosquitoes for a few months!
 
Beautiful poem Charles.

While reading, I could hear Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons"

Belated Happy Birthday Tammie!
 
Last edited:
Thanks Bob! :)

We took a trip to town yesterday and the leaves are definitely changing colors. Even the tamarack (sp?) are turning gold already and that seems really strange. They don't normally change before the end of September. Just how early is winter going to be this year?! For the past 4 days, the temperature has barely gotten above 15°C and hitting down to 5° at night, actually below zero in a few places near here! Yikes!
I missed it but on the side of highway last evening, my husband spotted 3 turkey vultures on a moose carcass in the ditch! Yuck but neat too.
We also saw a beautiful cow moose in a small pond eating right on the edge of dark last night. What a sight she was... so healthy!
I'm still hearing the loons and no sign of geese yet but it certainly won't be long now. Haven't seen a hummer for 2 days :( but the goldfinches are still here. That has to be a record... they've never stayed in the yard longer than a couple of weeks before!
 
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