Fall migration is well under way and most of our summer visiting birds have headed south for the winter. Some go to the Carolinas and Texas and others go all the way to Argentina. Our hummingbirds left the second week of September, but I kept the feeder up a few more days to make sure they had in fact left and also to give my young downy woodpecker a few more sugary treats. The woodpeckers typically hang around all winter and our daily visitors include the downy, red bellied, and sometimes a hairy. The piliated are always around but usually seen flying over the pastures or attacking the dead ash trees around here, looking for bugs. I have yet to have one of those magnificent birds at the feeder. The goldfinches have all lost their bright yellow breeding plumage and are eagerly taking sunflower hearts and thistle seed from the feeders, as well as cruising the perennial beds for seeds.
As I was eating breakfast on Sept. 19 and scanning the pastures for bird movement, I saw flashes of bluebirds hunting bugs around one of the nest boxes. In the next 20 minutes more and more bluebirds flew into the trees and shrubs, and soon there were too many to count—I estimated that there were 30 or 40 birds flying around, not only foraging for bugs but also gorging themselves on the various fruit-producing plants we have on the farm. The flock stayed around for most of the day and then moved on—they were probably a migrating flock passing through. I was hoping at least some of them would stay for the winter; since then I have regularly seen a couple of birds hanging around, so we will probably have a few stay for our winter viewing pleasure. On our walk this morning we saw three or four bluebirds exploring holes in the fascia of an old barn on East Bare Hill Road. These birds will probably be looking for roosting places and will probably be part of our winter population.
One day in the first week of October as I was looking out my office window, which has expansive views of our pastures and pond, I happened to see a yellow-rumped warbler on a field gate. Open pastures are not the brushy habitat where one usually finds these small warblers. Not five minutes later I was looking out another window and there on another gate was a veery. These birds are usually found in deep woods and I was pleased to get such an unrestricted view of it.
This week a white-throated sparrow was at the base of the feeder cleaning up the spilt seed. This species leaves here in the spring to breed as far north as the tree line in northern Canada. It is easy to dismiss a lot of “little brown jobs” as just another sparrow, but if one looks closely at this family of birds, there is an amazing diversity of pattern and color. The white-throated sparrow has, as its name implies, an obvious white throat and also two very distinctive bright yellow stripes behind the eyes.
Yesterday, on what must have been one of the nicest days we have had this autumn, Pam and I decided to see if Bolton Flats was accessible. Last time we were there, a month ago, the whole area was impassable, due to five inches of rain the day before. We knew we were probably a little late to see a lot of the migrants that pass through there but it was a great day for a walk nonetheless. Getting out of the truck we heard the unmistakable racket of hundreds of grackles in the trees. Walking down the trail we noticed that the bushes and trees were loaded with berries, but we found no birds taking advantage of this bounty. We did see a lone white-throated sparrow and dozens, if not hundreds, of red-winged blackbirds winging over the cornfields.
Returning home, I sat on the terrace in the warm autumn sun and actually saw a lot more birds than we had seen at Bolton Flats, confirming my belief that we have a wonderful environment around the farm for attracting and enjoying birds.
David Durrant lives with his wife, Pamela, on East Bare Hill Road at Micheldever Farm, where they run their business, Durrant Design, and watch birds—their own peacocks, chickens, and wild birds.
