Keep Calm and Bird On: September 2021
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.”
-Edith Andrews
September is the time to get out the bird books and study the “Confusing Fall Warblers” pages.
Young birds are dispersing, in their first sets of feathers. Adults are shifting out of breeding plumage, into eclipse or winter plumage. Some immature male birds keep female-type plumage, with its greater camouflage value, through the winter. While some species look the same in any season, many look very different.
Identification takes much greater attention to different details. The Audubon bird guides are helpful here, as the illustrations have nice little black arrows aimed at the salient points. Many are a bit counter-intuitive at first. For example, look at a cryptic warbler’s feet. Are they yellow, as if wearing gloves? Ahah! Blackpoll! Yes, it’s harder to see. And you might just have to write some off as a “sp.” (Species) But you will be a better observer for the exercise.
At this time of year, anything can happen. Southeasterly storms may bring in unusual seabirds, with winds pushing pelagics within viewing distance of shore. Rougher seas may also confuse the bait they depend on for food.
Northwesterly winds may boost migrating land birds to our thickets as they search for fruits to fuel their journey south. Many of them will take off from here on direct flights over open ocean to South America.
Viburnum, chokeberry, chokecherry, huckleberry, pokeweed berries, bittersweet and of course those high-fat powerhouses, bayberries, provide the fuel for migration. Some of these fruits may also help birds, at the molecular level, to metabolize fat without producing the so-called free radicals that cause tissue damage.
So, look for birds by looking at habitat from the birds’ point of view. And remember, extraordinary sightings require extraordinary documentation.
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