Creature Feature – Bittersweet Departures

It feels as though we were just anticipating the arrival of Spring’s early birds, and now it’s time for them to make their southbound journeys. In fact, many are well on their way. It’s a bittersweet time, because while seeing them depart can make us feel a little blue, late summer and early fall offer good opportunities to observe migrating wildlife.

Lots of songbirds began moving south in mid-August. Different warblers, flycatchers, vireos, thrushes, tanagers, and other feathered friends that charmed us throughout the spring and summer are already on the move. Hummingbirds are also migrating now and will benefit from nectar feeders. September is the best month to observe shorebirds like killdeer, plovers, yellowlegs, snipes, and sandpipers, as they’re often less secretive than during breeding season. 

Some ducks are migrating now, too. Like most birds, they get that restless urge to head south due to various factors including their reproductive cycle, molting stage, waning daylight, falling temperatures, decreased food, and even in response to hunting pressure. Blue-winged teal are very early migrators while Canada geese may linger into November. Some mature male mallard ducks will only move south in response to the advancing ice line; and if the ice recedes during milder weather, they have been known to backtrack north! Perhaps, like us, they are loath to say goodbye to Summer.

Article & photo by Margie Manthey