We saw our first of the season Goldfinch today! With the weird weather we've had, as well as the strange weather all over the USA and Canada, the fall migration may be starting early. If you see early arrivals, or note migration patterns that aren't normal, please post here. I'm really interested in hearing your experiences.
Will do Jane!! Our weather has been really weird this year so far with no real summer to speak of. Thankfully the swallows and house martins haven't left us yet but I have a feeling they will quicker than usual this year.
Not many of our birds migrate, most are year round residents. The Starings and Red-winged Blackbirds wander in and out of the area. With the noise and all people of the construction happening on our street and all the streets immediately around us, the birds haven't been in the yard this Spring and Summer as regularly as they would normally. So relating their decreased number or absence to weird weather would not be valid for us this year.
I have noticed that it feels like fall in the morning for the past week or so. I also noticed one area not far from home LOOKED like fall the other day ... red and yellow leaves on the trees already. I also noticed that the Barn Swallows are starting to gather on the hydro lines, geese are teaching the young ones how to fly in a flock, Starlings are starting their murmurations, the Hummingbirds are getting protective of their feeders, and the birds aren't singing in the mornings anymore. Today, I stopped at my favorite greenhouse and they had fall Mums out. Then I KNEW it was almost fall!
Yes I guess that fall is just around the corner. Our swallows also have been gathering on our power lines along our country roads. Seems early for them to be doing that. We have seen larger and larger flocks of Sandhill cranes gathering together. Yummmmm, those animals know so much more about the weather than we do. Fall is one of my most favorite seasons. I wish it would last for 9 months and then have 3 months of summer. If there was such an area of the US to live in I'd be moving there.
Yesterday I wrote the "Nature" part of our newsletter, and cited your contributions of migration information. I didn't mention y'all by name, just by region. I certainly thank you for helping me out!
I still have the Orioles in Wisconsin...I can remember them leaving in August but at an earlier date. It is nice to still have them here. Maybe they are just moving through the area on the way south...
