Anticipated Avian Arrivals
Phenology – “a branch of science concerned with the relationship between climate and periodic biological phenomena (as the migration of birds or the flowering and fruiting of plants).”
Small Birds
If you’re a dedicated bird watcher, you have been anticipating the fall migration, hoping to see the many species of warblers, sparrows and other songbirds as they make their way south.
October 9, 2020, 34 degrees, 9:30-10:30am. At 2:00 in the afternoon, a half dozen bluebirds enjoyed the bird bath and inspected the front yard bird house. A while later, a yellow-rumped warbler, a pine siskin, and a half dozen robins simultaneously foraged across the front yard.
Yellow-rumped warblers are the most common warblers passing through Sugar Hill, and I am happy to watch them as they bounce from perch to perch on the patio or at the edge of the pond. The other migrating warblers are harder to see and much more difficult to identify without a good photo and a guidebook. But I am happy for just a quick glimpse of one of these little birds, because they may soon return and pose a little bit closer, even at the end of October.
October 20-21, 2013. Several oven birds were in alder clumps and small trees near Joe Pye Hill, and yellow-rumped warblers were in the lilacs and birches in the front yard. A small flock of juncos, a blue jay, and a pair of bluebirds were in the yard on the 21st.
A few years ago, I was especially thrilled to get a photograph of a Tennessee Warbler, a lovely creature that I’d never seen before in our yard.
October 12, 2020, 53 degrees, sunny, breezy. A Tennessee warbler was in the fernery – a lifer documented in a photo.
OK. I know what you’re thinking. “Seeing this nondescript little yellow bird is supposed to be thrilling? Birdwatchers are weird!” So, no more about hard to see and harder to identify little birds. Let’s talk about the big birds whose arrival everyone anticipates.
Turkey Time
By October, flocks of young turkeys are wandering the countryside with their mothers, and lonely males, known as Jakes, are apt to be strolling through the fields and along the roadsides with a couple of their buddies. I bet that anyone over two years old can identify a turkey, and everyone, even the weirdest birdwatcher on the lookout for a Nashville Warbler, is excited to come across a flock of turkeys at the side of a country road.
October 24, 2019. I came across a dozen turkeys grazing along the side of Valley Vista Road in Sugar Hill.
Looking for Lunch
Early fall is also a good time to watch out for hawks. Up and down the East Coast, bird watchers know where to go to witness countless numbers of hawks streaming down toward their winter quarters. Oops! Did I say countless? That’s only for the uninitiated, which unfortunately are likely to include nearly everyone who is reading this. Of the many spots where those in the know gather to count the hawks, the best location is Cape May Point State Park in New Jersey, where birdwatchers gather each fall to count the numbers of hawks flying down the coast. I repeat – to count each and every hawk that flies within sight of the viewing platform. Here is a sample of the type of information that they gather:
In 2022, 47,029 individuals were counted, with the most common species being the Sharp-shinned Hawk, checking in at 15,018 individuals. Early in the season is the best time to see falcons, such as Peregrines, Merlins, and American Kestrels. Later, chances are better for the larger species, such as Bald and Golden eagles. Fall Bird Migration is in Full Swing in Cape May.
Around here, there are too few hawks for any such count, and I seldom see even one hawk flying overhead. So I don’t watch out for hawks. But others do! Redwings, swallows, catbirds, and all the summer residents have to teach their young not to dilly dally out in the open. If they see a hawk’s shadow speeding across the lawn or the pond, they yell (chirp??) “Watch Out!!” Their kids need to be lucky if they are not careful, for I might not be the only nearby birdwatcher.
August 24, 2017, 10:30am, 70 degrees. A Cooper’s hawk landed in the dead apple tree on the other side of Post Road, then took off and flew over the lilacs toward the back yard. Soon a catbird popped up crying. Did the hawk catch lunch?
We only get a good view of a hawk when it is hunting, whether hoping to catch a bird or a chipmunk.
September 20, 2013. A Cooper’s hawk was sitting still on the front lawn for several minutes, looking like an eagle sitting on a beach on Vancouver Island. It flew off before I managed a photo, so I went out hoping to figure out what it was doing. I don’t believe it was a coincidence that it was posted right next to a hole that was about two inches in diameter. My recent sightings of Cooper’s Hawks flying low over the lawn may also have been cases where I had interrupted their vigil, as they sat patiently waiting for a careless chipmunk or mole to emerge from its den.
Even if the youngsters are not careful, the neighborhood watch-dogs (watch-birds?) may keep both the young birds and the unwary rodents safe;
September 20, 2015. A couple of crows uttered low, ugly, guttural exclamations. I looked up to see a medium-sized hawk flying close to the tree-tops, from one tree to another, where another crow said, once again in guttural crowish, “Hit the road, Jack.” The hawk understood, circled a couple of times, and headed off.
Hawks and owls pretty much ignore the birdwatchers, and they are willing to sit still on a porch or a fence waiting for an unwary squirrel or mouse to show up on a mowed lawn or a songbird to come to the feeder. That is when I’ve taken my best photos.
December 16, 2018. I took nine photos of a red-shouldered hawk sitting on a fence next to a ball field in Terre Haute.
March 9, 2011. Jeanie called to say a hawk was perched on her bird feeder. Five minutes later, it was still there.
Hawks aren’t the only predator to menace our resident creatures. The most dangerous, of course is the automobile, deadly not only to the small and unwary, but also to the large and over-confident. Over the past 75 years, the construction of the Interstate Highway System has provided a steady supply of road kill, and that has allowed turkey vultures to expand their range to the North Country. Turkey vultures are not high on the beauty scale, but they do serve a useful function by helping to clean up what our cars have destroyed. At least that is what I’ve been told. Myself, I’ve only seen them circling high overhead.
September 17, 2016. I managed to get a photo of a turkey vulture that was gliding over the field on the other side of Pearl Lake Road. It has huge wings, which it holds at angle, and it wobbles as it circles looking for lunch.
Hawks and turkey vultures are the most commonly seen predators circling over our yard, but they aren’t the only ones. Ospreys, harriers, and even a rare eagle have flown over the pond looking for a meal.
October 22, 2021, 1030am, 60 degrees, cloudy. A very large hawk – possibly an eagle – flew in low over our lawn and out toward the Upper Meadow. I ran out with my camera in time to see it fly back right over my head, so close that I could hear its wings beating. The only characteristic that made a clear impression was that its beak seemed long, curved, and dangerous. Its head may have been lighter than its body, but I didn’t think it was bright white. Its wings were rounded rather than pointed, and its overall shape was that of a bald eagle.
I never got a photo of this bird, but Sibley’s Field Guide has pictures of eagles as seen from below. From this angle, which is the exact view that I had enjoyed, the bill is prominent and you can’t see the white head. So yes, I am pretty certain that this was one of my rare sightings of bald eagles in Sugar Hill.
Hunting Frogs
I think that the Great Blue Heron is the most spectacular large bird in the North Country. In the fall, I always anticipate their arrival to hunt for young frogs. Sometimes, they stand still at the shore line, patiently waiting for a frog to come to them. Other times they stalk along the shore line, neck down and extended, ready to dart to either side if they see a frog. If I get too close, they will fly off, probably headed for better hunting at Pearl Lake or Coffin Pond, but a couple of times I’ve seen them land at the other end of the pond, and once I saw one land near the top of one of the tall pines on the other side of the road.
October 22, 2021. At 2pm, a Great Blue Heron was standing by Kennerson’s dock. I managed a picture just as it flew up, and then it circled around and landed just past the big larch on the trampled cattails, allowing me to get some more photos. At 5pm, the heron was standing on Rock Island.
In October, Great Blue Heron can also be seen at large ponds or lakes, perhaps with a couple of families of Canada Geese as they all get ready for their long flight south.
October 4, 2026. A Great Blue Heron stood by a group of Canada Geese at Coffin Pond.
You might see an eagle high overhead if you stop at Coffin Pond to see if there are any geese or heron, but if you really want to see eagles, you should go to one of the beaches along the eastern coast of Vancouver Island. Out there, eagles are about as common as sea gulls on Cape Cod. When you walk out onto the rocky beach, an eagle might even turn its head, look closely at you, and seemingly invite you to sit down and enjoy the view.
April 2, 2017. One of the many eagles that we saw sitting on beaches and sand bars near Comox on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
Photos and text by Carl D. Martland, founding member of ACT, long-time resident of Sugar Hill, and author of Sugar Hill Days: What’s Happening in the Fields, Wetlands, and Forests of a Small New Hampshire Town on the Western Edge of the White Mountain. Quotations from his book and his journals indicate the dates of and the situations depicted in the photos.
